The next title to join the Esports Nations Cup 2026 is Apex Legends, as the Esports World Cup Foundation details the dates and format of the upcoming tournament.
The Esports World Cup Foundation announced on Feb. 19 that Apex Legends is the next game in the Esports Nations Cup 2026 competitive lineup. The tournament runs from Nov. 26 until Nov. 29, featuring teams from 40 countries/territories.
It starts with the round robin group stage, featuring four groups of 10 teams competing in a six-match series. The top 20 teams from the group stage advance to the match point finals. A team must earn enough points to activate the match point and then win a game to become champions, with no limits on how many matches can be played.
From the 40 participating countries/territories, 20 are guaranteed representation at the Esports Nations Cup based on cumulative Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Championship Points from all eligible players from their country/territory. The cutoff date for ALGS Championship Points is July 12. 18 teams then qualify through online qualifiers, and the remaining two come from Wildcard slots.
Representation slots for the 18 qualifying countries/territories are limited per region. Americas has six slots, EMEA nine, APAC North zero (South Korea and Japan are invited through ALGS Championship Ranking and hold their own qualifiers to determine rosters), and APAC South has three.
To earn the right to represent both invited and qualifying countries/territories, teams compete in online qualifiers from Aug. 1 to Aug. 2. The highest placing roster per country/territory gets to play at the Esports Nations Cup. And as a sidenote, teams can only feature a maximum of two players from their ALGS Year 6 Split 1 rosters.
With this announcement, Apex Legends joins an already stacked lineup of titles that will appear at the Esports Nations Cup, including Counter-Strike 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and even chess. Paired with the $45 million commitment from Esports World Cup Foundation, Esports Nation Cup promises to be one of the biggest esports events featuring national teams.
