Four spots for eight teams, Falcons the clear favorites… Everything you need to know about the Worlds 2026 Play-In

The pinnacle of the Rocket League season is finally here. This Tuesday, the Worlds of Epic Games’ title get underway in Fort Worth, Texas. A total of 20 teams will compete through September 20, all looking to succeed NRG, who will be defending their title on home soil despite a difficult season. But before the world’s best RL teams take to the stage, the Worlds will begin with a Play-In. Eight teams are in contention in this preliminary round, but only four of them will join the 12 teams already qualified for the Main Event.

The Play-In will be played over a single day in a double-elimination bracket, with every series being a BO5. Two teams will qualify through the Upper Bracket, while two more will earn their spot through the Lower Bracket. Among the eight contenders, one team clearly stands out as the biggest threat: Team Falcons.

The Saudi Arabian side earned its place in the Play-In due to disappointing recent results on the regional stage, which also saw them miss out on the Paris Major. Over the course of the year, Falcons accumulated fewer points than Twisted Minds, with MENA being allocated only one Main Event slot, compared with five for Europe, three for North America and two for South America.

Following that setback, Falcons made a resounding return to the international stage at the Esports World Cup. Samy "dralii" Hajji and the Bakhashwin brothers dominated the competition, notably eliminating Major winners Karmine Corp on their way to the title in the semifinals. The final against Spacestation Gaming was little more than a formality, with Falcons closing it out in a 4-0 sweep. As Worlds title contenders, Falcons are naturally the clear favorites heading into the Play-In.

The first challenge for the EWC champions will be to get past FUT Esports in what looks set to be THE matchup of the Play-In. The Turkish team, which competes in the North American region, showed some promising signs at the Paris Major before securing their spot at the Esports World Cup at the very last opportunity by winning the Last Chance Qualifier. There, however, Justin "jstn." Morales and his teammates failed to make much of an impact and exited the tournament without winning a single match. FUT also once again secured their Worlds spot by the skin of their teeth, winning the North American region’s LCQ.

The four first-round Play-In matchups will actually pit a team that qualified through regional points against an LCQ winner from another region. The second match on this side of the bracket will therefore see TSM, the top team in APAC, take on R8 Esports, the MENA LCQ winners. On paper, the Saudi side has the edge over TSM. However, R8 have not exactly inspired confidence in their last two international appearances.

They finished bottom of their group at the Paris Major, and Ghazi "Ghaazi" Al-Otaibi and his teammates did not fare much better at the EWC. To their credit, R8 were eliminated in the Group Stage after two losses against, perhaps, the two best teams in the world: Falcons and Karmine Corp. On the other side, TSM come in as outsiders but did pick up a notable win over NRG at the EWC.

On the other side of the Upper Bracket are the two unsigned mixes, Bigodes (SAM) and Mate y Tapa (EU), both of whom earned their spots by winning their respective LCQs. They will face Virtus.pro, the 4th seed from NA, and Five Fears, who dominated the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, respectively. While Bigodes’ Brazilian trio may not necessarily be favored against a VP side that came close to qualifying for the EWC, MYT appear to have a clear advantage over FF. The Spanish-speaking trio competed under the PCS banner at the EWC and also came close to qualifying for the Main Event. Five Fears, meanwhile, are still searching for their first win on the international stage.

If everything goes according to plan, Falcons will be one of the two teams to qualify through the Upper Bracket, joining Gentle Mates, Shopify Rebellion and Wildcard in the Group stage. The second spot looks likely to go to either VP or MYT, with the winner joining NRG, Vitality and FURIA. In that scenario, R8 and FUT appear to be the two best-equipped teams to secure their spots through the Lower Bracket. Tune in this Tuesday at 6 p.m. CET, 11 a.m. in Fort Worth, to find out how this preliminary round unfolds.