Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris: 25 tournaments, $75M+

The Esports World Cup 2026 is co-organized by the EWC Foundation and ESL FACEIT Group and will take place in Paris from July 2 to Aug. 22. The program includes 25 separate tournaments with a combined prize pool exceeding $75 million and will use multiple venues across the city.

The schedule spans July and August with several events running on overlapping dates. Major tournaments and purses include Valorant (July 2–12, $2 million), Dota 2 (July 6–18, $2 million), Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup (July 1–Aug. 1, $3 million), Honor of Kings World Cup (July 30–Aug. 8, $3 million) and the PUBG Mobile World Cup (Aug. 3–16, $3 million). Other events with seven-figure prize pools include Apex Legends ALGS Split 1 Playoffs, Counter-Strike, Rainbow Six Siege X and CrossFire.

Confirmed team and player lineups are published for many events. Valorant will field 16 teams, including Team Heretics, Team Vitality, G2 Esports, Paper Rex and EDward Gaming alongside regional qualifier slots. Dota 2 will feature 24 teams with entrants such as Team Spirit, Tundra Esports, OG and Team Liquid. The chess tournament, set for Aug. 11–15 with $1.5 million in prizes, lists Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana among its participants. Fighting-game brackets for Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 include long-standing players such as Tokido, Daigo, Punk and Arslan Ash.

Organizers published changes to the lineup compared with EWC 2025. Fortnite and Trackmania have been added while StarCraft II and Rennsport were removed. The Counter-Strike field expands by 16 teams versus 2025. Call of Duty: Warzone and Dota 2 add 11 and eight teams respectively, while Street Fighter 6 reduces its bracket by 16 slots.

Several tournaments will rely on regional qualifiers, Last Chance Qualifiers and online playoffs to fill remaining spots. Some events list placeholders tied to regional finals. The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 event currently shows multiple team slots as to be announced, reflecting ongoing qualification processes and league outcomes.

The Esports Nations Cup will run alongside the club and organization events. National teams will compete across 16 tournaments, with each tournament carrying its own prize pool. Organizers presented the Nations Cup as a separate, nation-focused competition to complement the other championships.

Organizers recommended the Esports Charts Teams Dashboard for rights holders, brands and teams to measure viewership and engagement across events and platforms. The dashboard is listed as a tool to analyze audience reach and engagement metrics.

Paris will host teams and individual competitors from esports leagues and circuits worldwide during the seven-week festival. Prize money will be distributed across major and minor events throughout the schedule, with final participant lists to be completed as regional qualifiers and league seasons conclude.