Esports Nations Cup 2026 confirms 16 invited VALORANT teams

After several weeks of selection across hundreds of countries, the Esports Foundation officially unveiled the national rosters for the VALORANT Esports Nations Cup on June 15, detailing the 16 national teams that have received direct invitations to the competition. The event, set to take place in November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is expected to feature thousands of players from around a hundred countries competing across 16 different titles, including VAL, whose tournament will run from November 08 to 15.

Of the 32 teams expected for VALORANT, half have now been directly invited, meaning all of these countries and their respective rosters are officially confirmed. As for the remaining spots, 14 will be awarded through seven continental qualifiers, each offering between two slots. The final two spots will be distributed as Wildcards by the organization: one “Solidarity Slots” and one “Host Region Slot”, reserved for a non-qualified country from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

It is also worth noting that all rosters, including those for nations that will have to go through the qualifiers, scheduled to take place online on June 26, 27 and 28, have already been confirmed and validated.

A total of 16 teams, each composed of three to seven players, have been invited for this first edition of the Esports Nations Cup. Only the points of each team’s five best players were counted toward direct qualification for the final event.

The Esports Foundation, which is in charge of the ENC, implemented an in-house system based on players’ performances across the 2026 League of Legendes circuit. As a result, the 16 rosters with the highest point totals are confirmed to secure their place in Riyadh.