Esports Nations Cup adds PUBG Mobile to 2026 lineup

The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) announced PUBG Mobile will be part of the inaugural Esports Nations Cup 2026. 

The Esports Nations Cup will have 16 games, and it will debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2 through November 29, 2026. 

The genre-defining battle royale game is one of the greatest success stories in mobile esports, and has been enjoyed by millions of fans worldwide since launching globally in 2018.

SCHEDULE AND FORMAT

• The PUBG Mobile tournament at ENC will begin on November 3, 2026, and will conclude with the Grand Final on November 8, 2026.
• The first stage will consist of 32 teams competing in a round-robin group stage featuring four groups of eight teams.
• The top four teams from each group will advance to the next stage. The second stage culminates in a 16-team Grand Final, where everyone will battle across 18 matches at most, using the Smash rule point system to determine the champion.

RANKING SYSTEM AND QUALIFIER INFO

• 32 teams will compete at the PUBG Mobile event at ENC 2026
  • 16 teams will receive direct invitations, segmented across two layers:
    • The top 12 teams will be directly invited based on the PUBG Mobile National Team Ranking.
    • Special invites will be shared with 4 select teams
  • The remaining 16 teams will be required to qualify through the remaining paths:
    • 14 teams will qualify through regional qualifiers.
    • 2 teams will come from Wildcard slots.
• The Esports Nations Cup will determine its direct invites via the PUBG Mobile National Team Ranking, which will take into account the 2025 PUBG Mobile World Cup and Global Championship, as well as the 2026 PUBG Mobile Global Open, awarding points to Clubs, with those points equally shared across all Club teammates who participated. The national ranking will then accumulate the points of the top four players on the submitted national roster. The cut-off date for PUBG Mobile National Team Ranking is June 7, 2026.
• The PUBG Mobile regional qualifiers will take place July 10-12, 2026. Qualifiers will be double-elimination brackets, hosted in each of the following regions:

• North + Central America (2 slots)
• South America (1)
• Europe West (2)
• EECA (2)
• MENA (2)
• Central + Southern Africa (2)
• East + South Asia (1)
• SEA + Oceania (2)

PUBG Mobile AT THE Esports World Cup

At the Esports World Cup 2025, the PUBG Mobile World Cup was quickly turned on its head when Brazilian powerhouse and defending PUBG Mobile World Cup champions, Alpha7 Esports, were shockingly eliminated from the Survival Stage. The sole representatives of Myanmar, Yangon Galacticos, took advantage of the opening, holding on to their lead through the Grand Finals and securing their biggest victory ever.

In total, 23 nations were represented at the PUBG Mobile main event at EWC 2025.