The groups for the Esports World Cup 2026 Valorant tournament have been unveiled, creating a brutal group of death for four of the 16 teams at the event.
The EWC Valorant tournament begins on July 2 as the groups kick off in Paris, before the Esports World Cup formally kicks off on July 6.
The EWC 2026 Valorant tournament sees Group of Death
The Esports World Cup Valorant groups have been revealed; they are:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| EDward Gaming | Paper Rex | G2 Esports | Team Heretics |
| Rex Regum Qeon | Team Vitality | Gentle Mates | MIBR |
| 100 Thieves | Karmine Corp | Xi Lai Gaming | Global Esports |
| BBL Esports | NRG | Nongshim RedForce | AG.AL International* |
*AG.AL International is the umbrella name for All Gamers/Anyone’s Legend used at the Esports World Cup.
With Valorant Masters London winners Leviatán absent, Paper Rex will be feeling good about their changes as the Pacific powerhouse eyes their first EWC title. However, their path could not be much harder, with Group B proving to be the ‘Group of Death’ for EWC 2026’s Valorant tournament.
EMEA’s best-performing team at Masters London, Vitality, are grouped with PRX, as are Valorant Champions 2025 winners NRG, making it a tall order for the final team, Karmine Corp, to survive the group.
Unlike the inaugural EWC Valorant tournament in 2025, the regions are not equally represented. EMEA benefits from an extra spot, awarded via the invite of last year’s winners, Team Heretics.
In EWC 2025, each group had one team from the Americas, China, EMEA, and the Pacific region, whereas EWC 2026 has one exception to that rule.
The extra EMEA slot means that China is underrepresented at the tournament with only three teams, meaning two EMEA teams in one group was inevitable, with Karmine Corp and Vitality drawn in the same group.
The Esports World Cup Valorant tournament format
Two teams from each group will progress in a GSL format to the playoffs. All matches in the Group stage will be Best of 3 contests. The playoffs will see an eight-team single-elimination bracket with all matches Best of 3 except for the Best of 5 Grand Final.
The winner will collect $600,000 of the $2,000,000 prize pool. The tournament MVP will also receive a $25,000 reward for the achievement.
Like all events at the Esports World Cup, the event will distribute EWC Club Points, which are awarded to organizations. The points will decide the organizations’ placements in the EWC Club Championship, which awards $7,000,000 to its winner. EWC Valorant awards 3,350 Club Points distributed from 1st-8th place.
EWC 2026 Valorant runs from July 2 to the July 12 Grand Final.
Who will make it through the Group of Death? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out Liquid’s new roster for VCT EMEA Stage 2, and be sure to subscribe to the Insider Gaming newsletter
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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