Mexico names mmonch to Valorant ENC roster, first woman

Montserrat “mmonch” Gutierrez was named to Mexico’s Valorant squad for the Esports Nations Cup, making her the first woman reported on an ENC national roster. The announcement comes ahead of the tournament’s inaugural edition in November 2026.

Gutierrez began competing in Valorant in 2021. She completed her first full VCT Game Changers season in 2022 with Argentinian team FiRePOWER and played multiple in-game roles. Over three seasons she and her teams won every regional Game Changers event in Latin America North. Her squads repeatedly lost the LATAM final to KRÜ Blaze, the path used to qualify for the Game Changers Championship.

In 2025 Gutierrez joined KRÜ Blaze and was part of the roster that finished in the top four at the Valorant Game Changers Championship 2025, becoming the first Mexican woman to attend that world championship. KRÜ rebuilt its roster for the 2026 season and Gutierrez was moved to the bench before being linked to the Mexican national side.

The Esports Nations Cup is organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation. The ENC will award more than $17.5 million across 16 titles. The tournament will be held every two years; the first edition is scheduled for November 2026 and the host city has not been announced. Qualifiers run from late May through mid-August, with the Americas qualifying window beginning June 26.

Female competitors who move into mixed or men’s events have generated large audiences in recent events. One Valorant debut by a female player reached a peak of more than 334,000 viewers for a single match at a regional kickoff tournament. In Counter-Strike, a match featuring a female squad against a top-tier men’s team nearly reached 500,000 concurrent viewers during a major event play-in stage.

Teams and event organizers use audience metrics dashboards to identify matches that drive viewership and to plan broadcast slots, promotional activity and sponsorship placement. Mexico’s roster announcement and the start of Americas qualifiers on June 26 mark the immediate schedule for ENC qualification. Qualifying windows this summer will determine the national teams that compete in November 2026.