NAVI Fails to Secure a Slot at the Esports World Cup 2026: Results of the European Qualifiers
The closed qualifiers for Western and Eastern Europe for the Esports World Cup 2026 have come to an end. In total, teams competed for 6 slots in the championship, and it’s time to summarize the results.
Western Europe
In the Western European qualifiers, the first slot was secured by LGD Gaming, which also put on a strong performance in the group stage of the current BLAST SLAM VII. In the match for a spot at the EWC, the South American team sent Natus Vincere to the lower bracket. Unexpectedly, NAVI lost the series for the second spot at the championship to Pipsqueak+4 and failed to secure a ticket to the Esports World Cup 2026.
Eastern Europe
This time, there were no Tier 1 teams in the Eastern European qualifiers, as all of them received direct invitations to the championship. Thanks to this, four less experienced teams had the opportunity to compete in one of the key tournaments of the year. Two Move and Poor Rangers advanced undefeated, while L1GA TEAM and Inner Circle secured their spots in the Esports World Cup through the lower bracket.
As a reminder, the EWC 2026 will take place in France. Due to the high likelihood of visa issues for teams from Eastern Europe, some slots may go to teams that fell just short of qualifying for the tournament (including Natus Vincere). A similar situation already occurred at BLAST SLAM VII, where Team Liquid took PARIVISION’s spot due to a lack of visas.
The Dota 2 championship as part of the Esports World Cup 2026 will take place from 06.07.2026 to 18.07.2026. 24 teams will compete for a prize pool of $2,000,000.
As CyberScore previously reported, the teams have been determined to receive direct invitations to the Esports World Cup 2026.
by CyberScore