Kuaishou Gaming have won the Honor of Kings World Cup at Esports World Cup 2026, becoming first-time EWC champions after a 4-3 grand final finish against AG.AL.
The newly crowned champions earned their title after they had fought their way through the tournament without dropping a single game. But it was in the grand final when they finally faced a squad who would test them: the reigning champions, AG.AL.
Both teams traded games back and forth, before the entire series went to a thrilling final game seven to determine the ultimate winner.
Kuaishou Gaming, who qualified for the event as the KPL’s number one seed outside of the reigning champions, got ahead of AG.AL by taking the first game, but as each team took a game after the other, it wasn’t until game five where AG.AL were first to win two-in-a-row in the series, and gain match point. In game six, AG.AL had their sights set on closing out the series, but a robust KSG were determined to keep the reigning champions at bay, and won the game to tie up the series, and force a final game seven. That final game got off to a close start, but it was KSG who were able to get ahead following a major team fight, and as quickly as it got going, they finished their rivals to take the title, leaving AG.AL simply stunned.
Kuaishou Gaming’s win also denies Xu “YiNuo” Bicheng from becoming a three-time EWC champion, following his win with AG.AL last year, and with the KPL Dream Team the year before. Instead, a new champion has risen, and a new opportunity for competitive Honor of Kings at the top.
“I have so much inside of me I want to say, because back in the time when we were in China, in the KPL, we were facing so many obstacles and ups and downs,” said He “JuHao” Weijia, following Kuaishou Gaming’s win. “We kinda lost our confidence and faith in us, and I believe this title will be one motivation for us to fight harder. I believe we’ve got the best team, best players, best coaches. Thank you so much for having us here in Paris.”
When asked about the match, Zhao “silence” Haoyu responded with confidence, saying, “There’s nothing much to say. How about you just look at who’s standing here.”
“Back in the days when we were having those match ups in KPL, it’s not our best. But now, here, standing on the stage of EWC, we got the best version of our results back,” said Zhang “LiuLang” Heng, in a statement. “And we just reclaimed the faith in ourselves, in our crew and our families, and we are so grateful to be here. This will be our second title of the year for 2026, and I surely wish for the third and the fourth.”
JuHao was named as the SONY MVP for his performance with Kuaishou Gaming throughout the tournament, earning an extra $25,000. “All I could think during my game was how I could win, that was all I could care about,” he said, after receiving the award.
For their win, Kuaishou Gaming took home a $600,000 share of the prize pool. A second place finish for AG.AL sees the team walk away with $360,000, and 750 Club Championship points.
Ahead of the finals, Geekay Esports took on ROC Esports in the third place match. The two teams, both from Malaysia, had impressive runs throughout the tournament, falling only to the two finalists. For Geekay Esports, it was a fast and impressive show of dominance, ending the match with a 3-0 sweep. They take home $280,000 for their third place finish, and 500 Club Championship Points.