This tournament is an unusual start to the new Rocket League esports season. The best teams from Europe and North America showcase the power of their new rosters. The winners advance directly to the Boston Major.
Rocket League Championship Series 2026 (RLCS 2026) started with the traditional series of online Open qualifiers in all main regions. What makes Open 1 special is that it concludes with a unique LAN tournament!
The RLCS 2026 Kick-Off Weekend features the regional finals in an offline environment and a battle of the top 4 European (EU) and North American (NA) teams.
In addition to the general excitement of top-level Rocket League esports, we can witness new players competing for the biggest teams.
The early qualification stages already brought us a big surprise: NRG, the World Champions 2025, could not make it to the Kick-Off Weekend. The finals may show the rise of some fresh names on the scene.
How to watch the Rocket League Kick-Off Weekend: Stream
All the Kick-Off RLCS 2026 matches are on the official YouTube channel of Rocket League Esports. You can watch the tournament here, as the stream is embedded above.
Schedule of matches at the RLCS 2026 Kick-Off Weekend
The event goes on for three days, from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7.
- Friday, Dec. 5: EU Open 1 finals
- Saturday, Dec. 6: NA Open 1 finals
- Sunday, Dec. 7: EU vs NA
Results: Rocket League Kick-Off Weekend
In a way, we have three Rocket League tournaments woven into one event. The EU and NA teams have regional finals first to determine the top 4 and their placements in the final brackets. The Playoffs of the RLCS 2026 Kick-Off Weekend are between these regions — the matches are for qualifying for the Boston Major in February 2026.
EU Open 1 finals
Lower quarterfinals | Semifinals | Grand final |
|---|---|---|
| Team Vitality 4:3 Gentle Mates | Karmine Corp 4:1 Team Vitality | Karmine Corp 4:3 Ninjas in Pyjamas |
| Man City 3:4 NOVO | Ninjas in Pyjamas 4:1 NOVO |
- With a mind-blowing reverse sweep NOVO Esports advanced to the main event. Team Vitality fell as low as 1:3 and then also defeated their opponents: the game 2 overtime in this match was +4:19.
- Ninjas in Pyjamas had a great win over NOVO Esports and advanced to the regional final. This semifinal featured a 5:1 score in game 3.
- Karmine Corp defeated Team Vitality in the semifinal, with all games being very close. Then, KC won the grand final over NiP. It was back-and-forth. NiP reached the match point with a 1:3, and then Karmine Corp won three games in a row, including one with a 4:0.
NA Open 1 finals
Lower quarterfinals | Semifinals | Grand final |
|---|---|---|
| FUT Esports 1:4 Shopify Rebellion | [REDACTED] 3:4 Shopify Rebellion | Shopify Rebellion 4:0 Spacestation |
| 100X35 Esports 1:4 Gen.G | Spacestation 4:3 Gen.G |
- Shopify Rebellion eliminated FUT Esports from the Rocket League Kick-Off Weekend run. In general, the games were close, but it took SR almost four minutes of overtime to score the final goal in game 5.
- Gen.G dominated the other qualification match, versus 100X35 Esports. The score in game 4 reached 6:1.
- Then, Gen.G almost recovered from a 0:3 and the five goals to nothing in game 3. However, Spacestation Gaming woke up back to the match and won game 7 with a 3:0.
- In the semifinal, Shopify Rebellion succeeded in a really close match versus [REDACTED]. Then, the team won the grand final over Spacestation — it was a 4:0, but each game featured only one goal advantage.
EU vs NA: Final brackets at the Rocket League esports Kick-Off Weekend
Round 1 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Grand final |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOVO 1:3 [REDACTED] | Ninjas in Pyjamas 0:3 [REDACTED] | Shopify Rebellion 4:1 [REDACTED] | Shopify Rebellion 0:4 Karmine Corp |
| Team Vitality 3:0 Gen.G | Spacestation 3:1 Team Vitality | Karmine Corp 4:1 Spacestation |
- [REDACTED] had confident victories against NOVO and NiP. Still, they were stopped by Shopify Rebellion.
- Team Vitality defeated Gen.G, having a 6:0 in game 2. Still, they were defeated by Spacestation: and got a 1:7 in game 3.
- As the European Champions, Karmine Corp joined late, and they needed two wins only to claim the Kick-Off Weekend title. KC defeated Spacestation Gaming, with close scores in each game. Then, they destroyed Shopify Rebellion, delivering 7:2 in the final game.
Karmine Corp win Rocket League Kick-Off Weekend 2025!
Final standings
Placement | Team | Boston Major |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Karmine Corp | + |
| 2nd | Shopify Rebellion | - |
| 3rd–4th | Spacestation Gaming [REDACTED] | - |
| 5rd–6th | Team Vitality Ninjas in Pyjamas | - |
| 7rd–8th | NOVO Esports Gen.G | - |
Europe at the start of RLCS 2026: Fresh rosters of the biggest teams
It’s the first regional split without two of the strongest players.
- Evan "M0nkey M00n" Rogez left for Twisted Minds — and he helped his new team win the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Open 1 event.
- Samy "dralii" Hajji joined Team Falcons during the transfer window ahead of RLCS 2025.
The regional favorites
Karmine Corp, the Rocket League EWC 2025 winners and the former team of dralii, is doing pretty well at the Open 1 qualifier. After the Swiss and Group stage, KC advanced to the regional semifinal and guaranteed themselves a spot in the Kick-Off Weekend.
Team Vitality has some troubles without M0nkey M00n. They lost to Ninjas in Pyjamas and should face Gentle Mates for a Kick-Off Weekend qualification.
Ninjas in Pyjamas has a fully new roster this season. It’s a mix of players from Complexity, Dignitas, and Geekay Esports. NiP reached the regional semifinal, and they are playing in the RLCS 2026 Kick-Off Weekend for sure.
The current version of Gentle Mates is formed by two NiP players, Nassim "nass" Bali and Oskar "Oski" Gozdowski, with Archie "Archie" Pickthall from Geekay Esports.
Newer teams
Manchester City Esports is a Rocket League team directly associated with a football organization. The Manchester City club purchased the roster 2 Danes 1 Bruv after these players made it to the regional lower quarterfinal.
Man City should face another smaller team on the European Rocket League esports scene. NOVO Esports refreshed the roster for this season, and these players have a chance to advance to the final part of the Kick-Off Weekend.
Underdogs on the top in North America: New names in the regional RLCS 2026
Quite a few newer teams reached the top placement in the North American Open 1 qualifier.
- The Rocket League World Champions 2025, NRG, lost to [REDACTED] and Gen.G Mobil1 Racing in the Groups Stage.
In the Kick-Off Weekend brackets
It’s the first-ever tournament for [REDACTED], as the esports organization was formed right before RLCS 2026. Still, the players are not new to the scene: Jayden "2Piece" Horton and Dylan "Wahvey" Thanus come from Shopify Rebellion. Cohen "Tawk" Hawco is a younger competitor, but he also played in some regional tournaments.
![[REDACTED] at the Kick-Off Weekend (Image via Rocket League Esports)](https://admin.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Rocket-League-Kick-off-weekend-2025-REDACTED.jpg)
Spacestation Gaming is the second NA team with a guaranteed Kick-Off Weekend presence, alongside [REDACTED]. The roster of this team is also refreshed: Nick "Chronic" Iwanski from The Ultimates and João "diaz" Henrique from Complexity are in SSG now.
Need to qualify
FUT Esports returned to pro Rocket League esports at the start of 2025. For the next season, FUT acquired a new roster and moved from Southeast Asia to North America. They face Shopify Rebellion for one spot in the RLCS 2026 Kick-Off Weekend.
Shopify Rebellion has a mixed roster of players from The Ultimates and Spacestation Gaming. Playing in the final part of the Kick-Off Weekend would be a nice early achievement for this Rocket League esports season.
100X35 Esports and Gen.G Mobil1 Racing battle for one more spot in the finals. Players from 100X35 Esports are surprising underdogs at this tournament stage.
Gen.G strengthened their roster with Finlay "rise." Ferguson from Twisted Minds. Eliminating NRG from the Kick-Off Weekend run is already an achievement.
While the Kick-Off Weekend winners advance directly to the Rocket League Major 2025 in Boston, other teams still will have their chances to qualify. The regional splits continue in January and February 2026.
