JiJieHao clinches final Esports World Cup berth

JiJieHao defeated HOTU at the Esports World Cup Open Qualifier in early August to claim the final spot in the main event. The victory sealed qualification alongside BIG and 100 Thieves after a weekend of tight maps and late comebacks.

Dionis “sinnopsyy” Budeci described the team’s reaction as stunned and relieved, noting that JiJieHao had prepared for the event for months and that many of their matches were decided in the final rounds. “We played nine maps and it was all really close,” Budeci recalled. “I’m shocked. I’m really happy that we made it.”

BIG advanced after a series against Sashi in which on-map exchanges and audible banter affected momentum. Jon “JDC” de Castro said the back-and-forth lifted his team’s focus on the final map, Ancient, and that the atmosphere reminded him of earlier competitive scenes.

100 Thieves moved through consecutive series to secure their place. Håvard “rain” Nygaard described the run as exhausting and credited energy and focus for getting the team through a narrow match with BC.Game. He described a moment on Nuke when a single clutch by Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen almost ended BC.Game’s run and nearly eliminated 100 Thieves.

BC.Game fell short by the smallest margins. Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas pointed to tight rounds and small swings in advantage as the difference in the match, and said the team will return to address specific issues.

NADE upset Eternal Fire earlier in the qualifier. In-game leader Usama “USAMA” Bajrami traced the roster’s origins to local tournaments in Skopje, Tetovo and Kosovo and said the group had only been together for a month or two. Omer “Explo1nt” Ismaili credited support from a Tetovo gaming café that helped fund and back the roster.

ASTRAL received a default 1-0 win over Kreazion after the French side could not field a full lineup because of a family emergency. The result was recorded in the Open Qualifier schedule.

The Open Qualifier ran August 7–9 with multiple rounds, including a round of 16 that produced several close matchups. One result from the LCQ also set up a high-profile matchup at the main event between Nicolai “device” Reedtz and Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. Remaining qualification matches will decide the final four teams to reach the Esports World Cup main tournament.