France avoids early exit in FIFAe World Cup 2026; Germany wins the Continental Championship

France has avoided an early exit from the Rocket League FIFAe World Cup 2026 despite a shock 3-4 loss to Czechia in the quarter finals of the European Continental Championship. The French squad, featuring Mathis "mtzr", Liam "yujin" Daillac,and Giuliano "GiuK" De Lillo dropped to the Second Chance bracket where they managed to defeat Norway 4-1 in a high-scoring series for both teams. France was one of six nations to qualify for the FIFAe World Finals in Jeddah, through the fiercely competitive European Continental Championships, including: Germany, England, Italy, Czechia and the Netherlands. Belgium, which was fielding a team without star man Tristan "Atow." Soyez notably exited the event without a single win in the group stage, despite having featured in the two previous editions of the FIFAe World Cup. Norway, Portugal, Finland, Turkey, and Poland were the other nations to miss out on a spot at the World Finals.

Germany, featuring a team of RLCS professionals David "Rezears" Wünsch and Damian "Tox" Schäfer as well as up-and-comer Matheo "osaft" Hapke, went on to win the event by defeating Jack "ApparentlyJack" Benton’s England 2-4 in the grand final, in a run that included wins over Italy and the Netherlands in the playoffs.

The Continental Championships that have been happening all around the world were largely formalities for the heavy favourites. The United States, Brazil, Australia, and Morocco won their events at a canter, rarely dropping games to their regional opposition. The only big upsets that occurred were in CONCACAF, where a Canadian team featuring three RLCS veterans lost out to Puerto Rico and in Asia, where a Malaysian team led by Nik Aiman Hakim "Sphinx" Bin Nik Azhar failed to even make it to the semi-finals. However, Europe was always going to be a tighter affair. The Continent has a history of strong local scenes and a depth in talent that other regions have struggled to match in the past. Even teams that exited the event during the Nations League stage of the tournament, including the likes of Wales, Lithuania, Hungary, and Croatia could have been competitive in other regions.

France, England and Germany were the three favourites to smoothly navigate the Continental Championships. All three teams could boast a selection of RLCS and LAN veterans and were even confident enough to compete without the likes of Alexis "zen" Bernier, Axel "Vatira" Touret, and Archie "Archie" Pickthall, who were all focused on their preparation for the RLCS 2026 World Championship. Despite this, things were not smooth sailing for any nation in this event. England got off to a particularly slow start with a draw to Finland and an unexpected loss to Italy in the group stage. Germany, despite beating France, only came second in the group stage because of draws to Portugal and Norway. While France would suffer the most high-profile upset, losing 3-4 in the quarters finals to a Czechia team featuring Jaroslav "sedou" Borovička, Oldřich "Aiipa" Kocián and Jakub "syracks" Mužík, who despite being seasoned bubble players in Europe, were far less experienced than their French counterparts. The French shortly recovered to beat Norway 4-1 in the Second Chance bracket, but it was not without nerves.

Italy joined Czechia in defeating their quarter finals opponents, successfully qualifying to the FIFAe Finals at the expense of Portugal. The Netherlands, which featured a squad of Mike "Mikeboy" Verkuijlen, Thomas "ThO." Binkhorst, and Justus "justuszzz" Zielhuis, a trio of players who competed together all the way back in 2018 on mCon Esports, lost to eventual winners Germany in the quarter finals. They dropped to the Second Chance bracket alongside France, where they qualified with a 4-0 win over Portugal.

Many notable RLCS players and former professionals competed at the event. Otto "Metsanauris" Kaipiainen, a four-time World Championship attendee, coached Finland. His former Team Endpoint teammate, Nelson "virtuoso" Lasko, earned a 9-10th place finish with Poland. RLCS Season 9 winner in Europe, Maëllo "AztraL" Ernst, competed for Belgium alongside Jovinson "rysfox." Frankinioulle and Zeno "Compact" Sterkens. Former Team Liquid stalwart Bruno Alexandre "AcroniK." dos Santos Lopes led Portugal to the Playoffs. While Emre "emre" Akbalik and Arda "Lorely" Teker, who were notable emerging talents towards the end of COVID-19, competed for Turkey.