Esports World Cup 2026: Open Qualifiers Dates Announced

The open qualifiers for the Esports World Cup 2026 will take place from 29.05.2026 to 31.05.2026 across six regions: Eastern and Western Europe, North and South America, Southeast Asia, and MESWA (Middle East and Southwest Asia).

In the qualifiers for Europe and Southeast Asia, teams will compete for two slots in the closed qualifiers; in the other regions, teams will compete for one slot each. From 31.05.2026 to 01.06.2026, another round of qualifiers will take place for North America and MESWA, where teams will compete for one more slot in the closed qualifiers.

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. The tournament will feature 13 invited clubs and 11 teams that advance through the qualifiers, including the winner of ESL Challenger China Season 3, which serves as the qualifier for China.

Tundra Esports, Team Yandex, Xtreme Gaming, Aurora Gaming, and PARIVISION, as the leaders of the ESL Pro Tour standings, as well as Team Spirit, as the champion of the previous tournament in the series, have already secured their spots in the championship.

As CyberScore previously reported, a star-studded coaching roster for the Esports Nations Cup has been announced.