This year has been a particularly busy one for continental
Olympic competitions. Esports made its debut at the 2026 South American Games, after already being featured at the
Central American and Caribbean Games last August and set to appear at the Asian Games at the end of September.
For its 13th edition, scheduled to take place from September 12 to 26, the province of Santa Fe in Argentina will host all the traditional disciplines associated with this type of event, such as football, tennis, and swimming, as well as esports for the first time in its history. For this major debut, three games have been selected by the organizers:
VALORANT,
EA Sports FC, and
Assetto Corsa GT.
An EA Sports FC women’s tournament
The event is organized by ODESUR, the South American Sports Organization, with 15 member countries, ten of which will be represented across the four esports tournaments at the event. In addition to men's VALORANT and the mixed-gender racing game Assetto Corsa GT, EA Sports FC will feature twice, with a men's tournament and a women's tournament.
According
to the official documents, a women's
VALORANT tournament was also initially planned but was canceled due to a lack of participating delegations, the organization told
Sheep Esports. Across the four competitions, matches will take place between September 13 and 16, with Riot Games' FPS being played across all four days, while the other two games will be played on September 13 and 14.
Nations with the most appearances
| # | Nations | Participations | Games |
|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 4 | Assetto, EA FC W, EA FC M, VALORANT |
| 1 | Ecuador | 4 | Assetto, EA FC W, EA FC M, VALORANT |
| 1 | Uruguay | 4 | Assetto, EA FC W, EA FC M, VALORANT |
| 4 | Chile | 3 | Assetto, EA FC M, VALORANT |
| 4 | Colombia | 3 | Assetto, EA FC M, VALORANT |
| 4 | Paraguay | 3 | EA FC W, EA FC M, VALORANT |
| 4 | Peru | 3 | Assetto, EA FC W, EA FC M |
| 8 | Guyana | 2 | Assetto, EA FC M |
| 8 | Venezuela | 2 | Assetto, EA FC M |
| 10 | Bolivia | 1 | EA FC M |
VALORANT 2026 South American Games format
For
VALORANT, only five nations will therefore travel to Rosario, in the Santa Fe province, for the competition, which will be held at the L2 Arena. They are Argentina, the host country; Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Paraguay. The five countries are expected to first face each other on the opening day in Bo1 matches, which will determine the standings. The four best teams will then meet in the semifinals on September 15, in the Bo3 series, before a grand final, also played in a best-of-three format, on Wednesday, September 16. The competition will be broadcast live on Twitch between 1 PM and 7 PM local time (UTC-3),
with a full schedule available online.
Aside from Nicolas "ZONYK" Carboni, who will serve as Head Coach of the Chilean national team, no players from the VALORANT Champions Tour Tier 1, the official circuit, will be present at the competition. However, several well-known names from South America will take part, including a number of players who know each other well from their time competing in Challengers Latin America South. Several players from ShindeN, KRÜ Spark, and Leviatán Academy will therefore be involved, as well as a player currently competing for 9z Team.
Argentina
Federico "Neto" Neto (ex-OXEN)
Facundo "rubkkoide" Chavez (ex-ShindeN)
Jerónimo "jotinha" Quirno Costa (ex-KRÜ Spark)
Enzo "ruso" Brito
Luciano "Mikey Tap" Pensa (9z Team)
Gabriel “s2k” Villanueva - Coach
Chile
Ignacio “nx1” Manriquez (ex-ShindeN)
Luis "Tunaso" Bustos (ex-Leviatán Academy)
Leandro "lead" Rojas (ex-ShindeN)
Matías "vaiZ" Barría (ex-ShindeN)
Rodolfo "mont1" Henríquez (ex-KRÜ Spark)
Nicolas "ZONYK" Carboni - Coach (KRÜ Esports)
Colombia
Uruguay
Enzo Comba
Ignacio “nanow” Pérez
Mathias "Mathi" Muntaner
Juan Godoy
Lorenzo "lolo" Coelho (ex-Leviatán Academy)
Nicolás “Near” Gonzalez - Coach (ex-F9 EICAR)
Paraguay
