The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) announced Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) and chess as the latest of 16 titles that national teams and players will compete in at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup 2026.
The ENC is organized along national lines like the Olympics, and it is set to debut for the first time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2 through 29, 2026. Twenty-four nations will reach the finals in Riyadh, advancing from national and regional qualifiers featuring more than 15,000 players across 3,000+ teams. The event has a $45 million prize pool.
Also, yesterday, ENC also added Honor of Kings as one of 16 titles that national teams will compete in at the inaugural event.
Counter-Strike 2 is one of the most widely followed competitive titles, generating more than 584.7 million global hours watched, according to Esports Charts. Bolstered by the historic qualification pool, the ENC 2026 will deliver unprecedented national representation, enabling countries and territories that have traditionally been represented by only one or two players at elite Club events to field full national teams.
Here’s everything you need to know about Counter-Strike 2 at the ENC 2026:
Schedule and format
- The CS2 tournament at ENC will begin on November 10, 2026, and will conclude with the playoff final on November 15, 2026.
- The first stage will consist of 24 teams competing in a round-robin group stage, featuring four groups of six teams.
- The top four teams from each group will advance to the next stage. The second stage will consist of 16 teams competing in a single-elimination playoff bracket.
- All group stage matches will be best-of-one. Playoff matches will be best-of-three while the Grand Final will be a best-of-five series.
Ranking system and qualifier info
- 24 national teams will compete at the CS2 event at ENC 2026:
- The 24 teams will be determined by a two-stage qualifier that will take place July 6-19, using a newly created CS2 National Team Ranking system to identify eligible nations.
- The CS2 National Team Ranking system will be used to determine which countries and territories will feature a national qualifier, and to seed teams in the qualifiers. It is based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) that award points to Clubs, with those points equally shared across all Club members who participated. The national ranking will then accumulate the points of the top five players on the national roster.
- The cut-off date for the CS2 National Team Ranking is June 1, 2026. For all nations and rosters not covered through the VRS Ranking, FACEIT Elo points will be used as a second mechanism to identify nations with qualifiers and to seed teams in those.
- The first stage of the qualification process is National Qualifiers, with competitions being hosted in 96 countries and territories to determine each nation’s top CS2 team.
- The winner of each National Qualifier will advance to the Regional Qualifier, where a spot at the ENC in Riyadh will be on the line. With at least 32 spots in each qualifier, and up to 64 in larger nations, more than 3,000 teams and 15,000 players will have a chance to represent their nation if they can beat out their local competition. National Qualifiers will feature a single elimination bracket, and will run in the following regions:
- North America (8 National Qualifiers)
- South America (8 National Qualifiers)
- Western Europe (16 National Qualifiers)
- Eastern Europe (16 National Qualifiers)
- Middle East + Central Asia (16 National Qualifiers)
- North Africa (4 National Qualifiers)
- South + Central Africa (8 National Qualifiers)
- South + East Asia (8 National Qualifiers)
- Southeast Asia (8 National Qualifiers)
- Oceania (4 National Qualifiers)
- The second qualifier stage (Regional Qualifiers) will determine which national teams qualify for the ENC. Regional Qualifiers will feature a double-elimination bracket and will take place in the following regions, with the number of successful teams advancing to the ENC listed next to them:
- North America (3 slots)
- South America (3)
- Western Europe (4)
- Eastern Europe (4)
- Middle East + Central Asia (3)
- North Africa (1)
- South + Central Africa (1)
- South + East Asia (2)
- Southeast Asia (2)
- Oceania (1)
- CS2 at the ENC 2026 will be a VRS Tier 2 event. The event eligibility rules require national rosters to only feature players with the same citizenship. For teams appearing in the VRS rankings as of the cut-off date of June 1, no more than three players from the same VRS-ranked team may be registered on a single national team. Clubs that release three of their core line-up into the national team will be able to earn VRS Ranking points for their Club through ENC.
CS2 at the Esports World Cup
All eyes were on Counter-Strike 2 in the final week of the EWC 2025, as Club Championship implications hung heavily on the competing players. But it ended up being a battle of national rosters in the grand final, as the all-Turkish Aurora Gaming faced off against the all-Mongolian roster of The MongolZ. Ultimately, The MongolZ won in a clean sweep, capturing the premier trophy that had been eluding them for so long.
This summer, CS2 will feature a dramatically expanded format at the EWC 2026 that includes an on-site Open Qualifier, a 32-team double-elimination group stage in the main event, and a 16-team single-elimination playoff bracket.
Esports Nations Cup adds Chess to game lineup
The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) also announced yesteday that it will include chess as one of 16 titles that national teams and players will compete in the ENC.
SCHEDULE AND FORMAT
- The Chess tournament at ENC will begin on November 2, 2026, and will conclude with the playoff final on November 8, 2026.
- The opening portion of the tournament will consist of 128 players competing in a round-robin group stage, featuring 16 groups of eight players.
- The top four players from each group will advance to the next stage.
- The second stage will consist of 64 players competing in a single-elimination playoff bracket.
- All group stage matches will be best-of-two. All Round of 64 and 32 matches will be best-of-two, while the quarterfinals and beyond will be best-of-four.
- Armageddon games will be used as tie-breakers.
- The event will be played in a Rapid 10+0 time control format.
Ranking system and qualifier info
- 128 players representing their respective nation will compete in the Chess event at ENC 2026:
- 64 players from 64 nations will be directly invited based on the official Champions Chess Tour (CCT) rankings
- 56 players will qualify through regional qualifiers
- 8 players will come from Wildcard slots
- The Esports Nations Cup will determine its direct invites via the official CCT rankings, limited to one player per nation. The Titled Tuesday Spring Split will be used as an additional tie-breaker should there not be 64 unique nations featured in the CCT rankings. The cut-off date for determining direct invites to ENC 2026 is May 26, 2026.
- Chess will feature two regional qualifiers in each region, taking place on June 6-7 and June 13-14. Each Qualifier will consist of two stages; a Swiss stage and a double-elimination stage, with four players from each qualifier making it to ENC, giving a total of eight players per region. Qualifiers will be operated by Chess.com, and hosted in each of the following regions:
- North America (8 slots)
- South America (8)
- Africa (8)
- Western Europe (8)
- Eastern Europe (8)
- Middle East + India + Central Asia (8)
- East Asia + Southeast Asia + Oceania (8)
- Every nation can have up to two representatives at the event. Should a nation have a player directly invited through the rankings, only one more player from that nation can make it through the regional qualifier. Nations without a direct invite can still have two players qualify online.
CHESS AT THE ESPORTS WORLD CUP
Chess grabbed the spotlight at its Esports World Cup debut in 2025, solidifying the rise of the new digital era for the world’s oldest and most beloved games. Fans of both esports and chess had never experienced an event like this before, and were captivated throughout as the intense action played out. The most accomplished players and biggest names collided in the playoffs, with the game’s biggest star in Magnus Carlsen (Norway) claiming the inaugural Chess at EWC championship on behalf of Team Liquid.
In total, 20 nations were represented across the chess main event and Last Chance Qualifier in Riyadh at EWC 2025.