Esports World Cup announces $2m prizepool, improved format for 2026

Saudi Arabian tournament organizer Esports World Cup Foundation have announced a number of changes for their eponymous Esports World Cup's Counter-Strike 2 tournament, most notably seeing the event raised to a $2,000,000 prizepool while also expanding the tournament to 32 teams.

With the tournament expanding to 32 teams, the EWCF have also updated the much-maligned format for the Esports World Cup, seeing the single-elimination format dropped in favor of a double-elimination group stage with four groups of eight teams, followed by a 16-team playoff bracket.

With the event expanding in size and scope, EWC 2026 will run from August 10th to the 23rd, occupying a significant chunk of the calendar.

In another change, EWC have also announced that they will be hosting a 128-team non-BYOC tournament that will qualify four teams to the main event while also offering its own $100,000 prizepool.

In total, 21 teams will be invited via the Global Rankings, 6 will come from the Open Qualifiers, 4 will come from the non-BYOC tournament, and a single team will come from the Asian Champions League 2026.