Inaugural Esports Nations Cup Set for November 2026

The Esports World Cup Foundation will organize the Esports Nations Cup, a new tournament where top esports players will compete to represent their countries. The event will be hosted every two years, with the first edition planned for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November 2026. The event is then expected to rotate to different host cities around the world.

“Nation versus nation competition is the ultimate expression of sport,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation. “The ENC makes this a reality for esports, giving every fan a flag to rally behind and every player the pride of representing their country. It’s a stage to create heroes, inspire the next generation, and, together with our partners and stakeholders, build the national ecosystems that will accelerate the growth of esports worldwide.”

The inaugural edition will be co-developed with several of the industry’s major publishers and video game companies — Electronic Arts, Krafton, Tencent and Ubisoft — who are expected to offer competition in their various game titles. Each one is expected to shape their game’s national ranking systems, qualification pathways and event formats.

The format will feature national teams from North America, South America, Europe, MENA, Africa, Asia and SEA & Oceania, competing in team-based and solo-player formats. The qualification model is expected to combine global rankings, regional qualifiers and wildcard entries, including solidarity placements, to ensure a broad and representative competitive stage in every game. All players will receive guaranteed prize money, with equal placement rewards across all games.