Not even a week after beginning, the 2026 Esports World Cup has crowned a champion for the Valorant portion of the event. 100 Thieves had to battle against sixteen different teams across five different brackets in order for the team members to be declared champions. Valorant matches took a total of ten days to complete, not including one rest day. Matches spanned anywhere from one and a half to four hours, depending on map choice and player skill.
100 Thieves had a close to perfect run each time, scoring a cumulative 1,000 club points, earning them a total of $600,000 USD. They were followed by teams NRG, Nongshim RedForce, and BBL Esports, with each team earning 750, 500, and 300 points, respectively. NRG received $340,000 in prize money, while Nongshim RedForce was awarded with $220,000, and BBL Esports $140,000. Four teams tied for fifth place, each receiving a total of 2oo points and $90,000. These teams consisted of Team Vitality, Team Heretics, Gentle Mates, and MIBR. The remaining eight teams, Edward Gaming, Karmine Corp, G2 Esports, AG.AL, Team RRQ, Paper Rex, Xi Lai Gaming, Global Esports, did not score any points, but still took home prize money ranging anywhere from $30,000 to 55,000.
The 2026 Esports World Cup is, like the video game industry as a whole, unique. For other competitive sports such as baseball or football, players must physically come together to train and compete. For the Esports cup though, players do not necessarily need to be physically close with one another. Instead, they are able to call and play with their teammates almost instantly. Because esports does not require players to represent their countries, this allows teams to recruit players from all over the world, with one exception: Valorant players must be on the same server as each other in order to compete.
100 Theives’ historic championship run is a new first for the team, as they had not attended a world cup before. The roster includes Peter Mazuryk, Sean Christian Bezerra, and Matthew Dylan Panganiban from the United States. Team members from Canada are Timothée Lavigne Dupont and Timothée Lavigne Dupont. 100 Thieves also keeps two team managers: Laurynas Kisielius and Carl Erik Victor William Sandgren. A brief introduction video for fans to ‘meet’ the players is available for viewing below.