The Esports World Cup 2026 in Dota 2 will start on July 6 in Paris (Paris Expo Porte de Versailles). The tournament will conclude on July 18 and will gather 24 teams: 14 received direct invitations based on the ESL Pro Tour ranking, while another 10 qualified through regional qualifiers.
From the CIS and Russia, seven teams will participate in the EWC: Team Spirit, 1w Team (the former roster of Tundra Esports), PARIVISION, Aurora Gaming, Team Yandex, BetBoom Team, and Virtus.pro. This is one of the widest representations from the region at a Western LAN tournament in several years.
Format: four groups of six teams with a round-robin Bo2 system. The group winner advances directly to the playoffs, places 2-4 lead to the survival stage, and the bottom two teams are eliminated.
The prize pool is $2,000,000. The EWC in Dota 2 will be one of the key events during the break before The International 2026, which will take place in Shanghai in August.
