Every teams qualified for Esports Nations Cup on VALORANT through the qualifiers

Over the weekend of June 26-28, eight regions around the world hosted VALORANT qualifiers to determine which nations would secure a place at the Esports Nations Cup, set to take place from November 8–15. Earlier this week, sixteen national teams had already received direct invitations to the main event through the ENC's ranking system, which allocated spots based on each nation's competitive strength.

That left fourteen remaining places to be decided across eight regional qualifiers held throughout the weekend. Each region awarded two qualification spots, with the exception of the Sub-Saharan Africa and MENA qualifiers, which each sent a single representative to the main event. Sheep Esports rounds up all of the teams that secured qualification through their respective regional tournaments below.

Two teams that were not considered among the favourites produced the biggest surprises of the weekend. While many expected Indonesia to qualify despite the absence of Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto, the team first fell to New Zealand in a narrow 14–12 defeat before suffering another loss to Australia in the lower bracket.

Instead, it was Vietnam that emerged as the tournament's standout story, becoming the first team to qualify despite not featuring a single VCT player on its roster. The Vietnamese side opened its campaign with a commanding 13-0 victory over Australia before defeating New Zealand in straight maps. In the final qualification match, however, New Zealand prevailed in the Oceanic showdown against Australia, securing the region's second and final ticket to Riyadh.

As the team featuring the highest number of VCT players in the region, Japan comfortably secured the first qualification spot, never looking seriously threatened throughout the weekend. The final qualification match pitted India against Hong Kong. Despite fielding VCT China duo Pong “SiuFatBB” Ka Hei and James “NoMan” Man, Hong Kong fell short in a qualifier once again, while India pulled off the upset to book its place at the Esports Nations Cup.

In the region with the fewest professional players and the largest number of amateur representatives, South Africa emerged victorious. The team began its campaign with a walkover against Ethiopia before defeating Mauritania and Nigeria. Meeting Nigeria once again in the Grand Final, South Africa repeated the feat without dropping a single map to secure qualification for the event.

With only one qualification spot available despite featuring several nations boasting numerous VCT players, the MENA qualifier looked set to be one of the most competitive tournaments on paper. In the end, it was the host nation of the Esports Nations Cup that came out on top, as Saudi Arabia secured its place at the event. The Saudis defeated Amine “johnqt” Ouarid's Morocco, who were unable to find an answer in either the upper bracket or the Grand Final.

In the EU West qualifier, France emerged as the dominant force, completing a flawless run to secure qualification. Despite being without Sylvain “Veqaj” Pattyn, the French side still found the resources to comfortably overcome every opponent it faced. Having fallen to France earlier in the bracket, Denmark endured a more hard-fought path but ultimately claimed the region's second qualification spot. Featuring Nicole “Noia” Tierce and Michaela “mimi” Lintrup, Denmark is currently the only qualified nation with Game Changers players on its roster.