100 Thieves, Liquid, BC.Game, FOKUS Share EWC Qualifier Bracket

The Esports World Cup 2026 open qualifier playoffs placed 32 teams into a single-elimination bracket on Aug. 9 after a GSL group stage cut the field from 64. Four playoff winners will advance to the main event.

Matchups were set in a live draw run by Jackson “el_jack0” Wolf and Michal Slowinski of ESL. Group winners were placed in one bowl and paired with group runner-ups from a second bowl. Teams from the same GSL group could not meet in the first round.

One section of the bracket groups 100 Thieves, Liquid, BC.Game, OG, FOKUS and 1win. Those teams will compete for a single qualification spot. Playoff matches begin at 09:00 local time on Aug. 9.

Another bracket pairs HEROIC, fnatic, EYEBALLERS and SINNERS for a main-event berth. Virtus.pro, which advanced from the group stage with wins over Sangal and JiJieHao, will open against Sashi. Betclic, BIG and Eternal Fire are in the same portion of the draw.

The final playoff spot is in a bracket that includes NRG, DENDELE, Inner Circle, HOTU and 9INE. First-round matchups there are NRG vs Phantom, JiJieHao vs DENDELE, Inner Circle vs Iberian Soul, and 9INE vs HOTU.

Organizers published the full playoff bracket and schedule on the event page. All remaining matches are single elimination, with each result determining which teams remain in contention for the four main-event places.