Every game confirmed for Esports Nations Cup 2026

This year marks the inaugural multi-national competition, Esports Nations Cup, to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF). Here is every confirmed game in the Esports Nations Cup 2026, their respective prize pools, and more details.

Esports Nations Cup 2026 games

• Apex Legends
• Chess
• Counter-Strike 2
• Dota 2
• EA Sports FC 26
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
• Honor of Kings
• League of Legends
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• PUBG: Battlegrounds
• PUBG Mobile
• Rainbow Six Siege
• Rocket League
• Street Fighter 6
• Trackmania
• VALORANT

A total of 16 titles will be present at the ENC 2026. Below are known details, including game days, prize pool, and players/teams involved.

Instead of representing their respective clubs or esports organizations, participating teams and players will compete under their national flags.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends makes its way onto the Esports Nations Cup.

Being a 3-player game, Apex has seen many teams with all players being the same nationality. In particular, three nations are incredibly visible when it comes to Apex Legends’ international events: United States, Japan, and Australia.

Chess

The 128 participants will compete in a two-stage format played in a Rapid 10+0 time control.

• 64 direct invites
• 56 from Qualifiers
• 8 Wildcards

Chess in ENC 26 begins with 16 groups of eight players, playing best-of-twos in a round-robin. Then, the top half will advance to the 64-player, single-elimination bracket. Armageddon will be used on tie-breakers.

The Chess leaderboard is heavily favored toward the West, with the current #1 in the world, Magnus Carlsen, being from Norway. United States, Uzbekistan, and India also have their own Grandmasters to watch.

Counter-Strike 2

The shooter from Valve, Counter-Strike 2, joins the list of confirmed games for ENC 2026. National qualifiers will be hosted across 96 countries and territories, held on July 6-19. Afterwards, teams will have to go through Regional Qualifiers, culminating in a final pool of 24 teams.

• 24 teams from Regional Qualifiers

Russian players generally dominate both the in-game leaderboards and professional play, followed shortly by other European regions. However, from time to time, players from other regions like Brazil and China show up.

Dota 2

Valve’s ever-present MOBA, Dota 2, is confirmed for ENC 2026. Dota 2 was similarly present in the first EWC in 2024, and Valve has been ubiquitous when it comes to presenting their top competitive titles in international events.

• 16 direct invites
• 14 from Qualifiers
• 2 Wildcards

Europe is the region to watch when it comes to Dota 2. However, teams are usually made up of players from various nationalities, so the Esports Nations Cup will inject the novelty of seeing various players on the same side.

EA Sports FC 2026

EA Sports FC 2026 is the first virtual sports game in the Esports Nation Cup. All 128 participants will compete in 1v1 play on PS5, beginning with a group stage of 16 groups of 8, and then in a single-elimination playoff bracket.

• 64 direct invites
• 56 from regional qualifiers
• 8 Wildcards

Again, European players dominate events, particularly Denmark and the Netherlands. Italy and Brazil are nations to watch, too.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is the first fighting game to be confirmed for ENC 26, and will happen during the event’s second week.

• 16 direct invites
• 13 from Qualifiers
• 3 Wildcards

The group stage will divide them into four groups of eight, where competitors will play best-of-seven in a round-robin format. The top 16 will advance to the single-elimination, best-of-nine playoff bracket.

The players for CotW are Asia-heavy; nations like China, Japan, and South Korea consistently find good placements and results in internationals. For the West, the United States has a good shot in these competitions.

Honor of Kings

Honor of Kings is a mobile MOBA published by Tencent Games.

• 12 direct invites
• 9 from Qualifiers
• 3 Wildcards

Like MLBB, Southeast Asia is the prominent region for Honor of Kings. HOK teams from Malaysia and Indonesia often see international success.

Technically, China is considered the best at the game, mainly because HOK was region-locked to them for a significant amount of time. Because of this difference, there exist two versions of the game: the one that Chinese players have and the one that the rest of the world has access to.

League of Legends

League of Legends is one of Riot Games’ two titles in the ENC. Seven regional qualifiers across the world will happen on June 19-21 to decide the teams that will compete in Riyadh.

• 16 direct invites
• 14 from regional qualifiers
• 2 Wildcards

The international scene is heavily commanded by South Korea and China. Both the South Korean LCK league and the Chinese LPL league feature teams of mostly the same nationality, hence the matches between these two nations should resemble what we already see from international events.

The real excitement comes from which players the European nations will bring together for their teams.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a mobile multiplayer online battle arena title from MOONTON Games. The developer-publisher has been working with the EWCF since the first Esports World Cup and has intertwined their mid-season international tournament with the EWC. With the EWC at its third iteration, MLBB remains the only title to have two events in it. Hence, MLBB’s appearance in ENC 2026 is no surprise.

• 16 direct invites
• 14 from Qualifiers
• 2 Wildcards

The professional MLBB scene has long been dominated by Southeast Asia. The Philippines and Indonesia are considered the powerhouses when it comes to the highest level of play.

PUBG: Battlegrounds

The battle royale PUBG Battlegrounds also makes its way to ENC26

• 12 direct invites
• 10 from regional qualifiers
• 2 Wildcards

Asian nations like South Korea, China, and Thailand usually have good visibility on the top international PUBG:BG events. For the West, Russia, the United States, and Brazil all have a large pool of talent to choose from.

PUBG: Mobile

This is the mobile version of PUBG, and the esports scene is quite different.

• 16 direct invites
• 14 from regional qualifiers
• 2 Wildcards

China and Brazil remain prominent nations when it comes to PUBGM internationals, but Turkey, Vietnam, Iraq, India, and Saudi Arabia are all promising contenders.

Rainbow Six: Siege

• 12 direct invites
• 10 from qualifiers
• 2 Wildcards

Direct invites will be determined via the Siege X National Team Ranking.

Brazil and France are two good nations to keep an eye on for quality R6 gameplay.

Rocket League

• 24 direct invites
• 21 from online Qualifiers
• 3 Wildcards

The ENC Rocket League National Team Rankings will be taken into account for the direct invitations. This considers regional and international RLCS competitions. Points are equally shared across all teammates who participated, and a nation’s ranking total combines the points of the top three players on its submitted roster.

For Europe, France and United Kingdom are the nations to watch. The United States also makes a good case for itself. For Asian fans, Saudi Arabia is a good nation to track.

Street Fighter 6

Capcom’s iconic fighter is the second fighting game in ENC26.

• 12 direct invites
• 12 from qualifiers

SF6 at ENC will be a 4-on-4 Team Battle format, with each match having four 1v1 games where every player of a national team competes once.

For direct invites, the player with the highest World Warrior Ranking in each Invited Nation will be given the first roster spot, and the rest of the spots will be awarded to the top three players in the ENC National Ranking.

For players going through qualifiers, the winner of the qualifier becomes the team captain. The second spot goes to the highest-ranked player in the World Warrior Ranking, and the remaining two go to the next two highest-ranked players in the ENC National Ranking.

Japan and South Korea are the nations to watch in this event.

Trackmania

Ubisoft’s racing game, Trackmania, is confirmed for Esports Nations Cup 2026! The 32 competitors will be on Cup Mode, 1v1v1v1 format.

• 16 direct invites
• 14 from Qualifiers
• 2 Wildcards

France and Germany generally dominate competitions, and Europe in general excel in Trackmania events.

VALORANT

Riot Games’ ability-based tactical shooter will also be present in Riyadh.

• 16 direct invites
• 14 from regional qualifiers
• 2 Wildcards

The VALORANT scene is generally competitive across its four regions (Pacific, EMEA, Americas, and China), with the latter being the only one to not yet lift an international trophy.

Interesting rosters should be formed from the European nations and the Pacific nations for ENC26.

With that, all 16 games in the Esports Nations Cup 2026 have been confirmed. The event is scheduled from Nov. 2 to 29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.