The Esports World Cup Foundation or EWCF has announced how the inaugural Esports Nations Cup will work, confirming a 16-title lineup and space for dozens of national teams when the event lands in Riyadh in November 2026.
Across four weeks of play, you will see a mix of team and solo competitions, with formats co-developed alongside major publishers such as Electronic Arts, Chess.com, Krafton, MOONTON Games, SNK, Tencent and Ubisoft, with more partners still to be revealed.
At the ENC Finals, each team-based title will host between 24 and 48 national line-ups, while solo titles will feature anywhere from 32 to 128 players.
To keep the focus firmly on country representation, every nation will field one official national team per title, plus up to two players per game in solo events. Some games will allow multiple squads or players from the same country to battle through earlier qualifying stages, but only one official lineup will make it to the main event.
Qualification is designed to reward both past results and open competition. Half of all teams and players will receive direct invitations based on how competitors from their country perform across each game’s season, while the remaining spots will be filled through open regional online qualifiers.
Full club rosters will be banned from entering as national teams. This will allow federations and selectors to build fresh lineups from their best eligible talent. Every team and player reaching the ENC Finals is guaranteed at least three matches, giving fans time to latch onto new storylines and stars.
The 2026 edition will take place in Riyadh before the Nations Cup moves to a rotating host city model.
