With the
RLCS 2026 World Championship right around the corner, six days of
Rocket League spectacle awaits us. Representatives from seven regions will gather to compete for the World title in its tenth year, which is set to be one of the most exciting The tournament will begin with an eight-team Play-In phase featuring the
Esports World Cup 2026 winner
Team Falcons before the Group Stage introduces the rest of the teams including European titans
Karmine Corp,
Team Vitality, and
Gentle Mates as well as reigning champions
NRG. The tournament will end with the largest Playoff Stage in RLCS World Championship history, where 12 teams will battle it out across a three-day period.
With the online regular season concluding over almost five months ago, it has been the past two LAN tournaments, the Paris Major and EWC, that have set the stage for this upcoming World Championship. Ahead of the event, Sheep Esports presents its Power Rankings for the 20 teams set to battle it out at the RLCS World Championship.
Who will come out on top at the RLCS 2026 World Championship? Credit: Will Connell
Hotly contested
Karmine Corp top the rankings after a
well deserved victory at the 2026 Paris Major, where they defeated Gentle Mates, Team Vitality and Twisted Minds to lift the trophy. However, the two month break between the Paris Major and Esports World Cup took its toll, with the French giants falling in the semi-finals of EWC to a resurgent Team Falcons without winning a game. They also dropped a series versus Ninjas in Pyjamas in the third place decider and were taken to a seven-game series by both R8 Esports and Team Vitality. While they ultimately remain at the top, the rest of the field have caught up with them substantially, with Team Falcons right on their tail.
- 1. Karmine Corp (Atow, Juicy, Vatira)
- 2. Team Falcons (dralli, Kiileerrz, Rw9)
- 3. Team Vitality (ExoTiiK, stizzy, zen)
Led by Moroccan star, Samy "dralii" Hajji, who joined the organization as their first international signing ahead of RLCS 2026, Team Falcons now head into the World Championship as one the favourites following their win at EWC despite missing out on the Paris Major entirely. They dropped only two games in the Playoffs to win the EWC, taking out domestic rivals Twisted Minds, defeating Karmine Corp 4-0 and beating Spacestation Gaming in the Grand Finals.
Powered by the ever present Alexis "zen" Bernie, Team Vitality comes into the tournament third on our rankings after a relatively strong domestic season but without the LAN titles to go with it. Following their second place finish at the Boston Major, Team Vitality won two Regional Open events and looked like the most in-form European team coming into the remainder of the season, but they were knocked out of both the Paris Major and EWC by Karmine Corp. Since winning the RLCS 2022-23 World Championship, Team Vitality have won just 2/20 series versus Karmine Corp with their only win in an RLCS event across the past three seasons coming in a best-of-five at the Boston Major.
- 4. Spacestation Gaming (diaz, reveal, zach)
- 5. Twisted Minds (M0nkey M00n, Nwpo, trk511)
- 6. Gentle Mates (Archie, nass, Oski)
- 7. Shopify Rebellion (Firstkiller, kofyr, Lj)
- 8. NRG (Atomic, BeastMode, Daniel)
Defending champions, NRG, sit eighth in the ranking having had an underwhelming season since winning the RLCS 2025 World Championship, characterised by an early 9th-12th exit at the Paris Major. While they remain a largely dominant force domestically, the 2026 World Championship is now the last chance for the North American squad to recover their season on LAN and become only the second team to win the World Championship twice in a row, a first for the Open Era.
Spacestation Gaming, Twisted Minds, Gentle Mates and Shopify Rebellion round out the top eight. Spacestation Gaming will be hoping to build on their first LAN grand final after a top notch performance at EWC. The two time champion Evan "M0nkey M00n" Rogez, who pivoted to MENA this season with Twisted Minds, comes into the tournament in strong form after a second-place finish at the Paris Major. There is hope that Jason "Firstkiller" Corral can finally win his first RLCS LAN tournament with Shopify Rebellion. While Gentle Mates, who were winners of the Boston Major, come into the event as a dark horse, who can utilize a high peak to defeat any opponent.
- 9. Ninjas in Pyjamas (crr, Joreuz, oaly)
- 10. FUT Esports (CHEESE, Chronic, jstn)
- 11. FURIA (Lostt, swiftt, yANXNZ)
- 12. Man City Esports (accro, ejby, Seikoo)
- 13. Virtus.pro (2Piece, Tawk, Wahvey)
- 14. R8 Esports (Abdullah, Ghaazi, M7md)
- 15. MIBR (Aztro, Reysbull, Sad)
- 16. Mate y Tapa (ajg, AtomiK, Dorito)
Ninjas in Pyjamas shocked the scene by earning a third-place finish at the EWC. During the tournament they won their first RLCS LAN series of the season against an opponent in a major region beating Shopify Rebellion, Twisted Minds, Gentle Mates and Karmine Corp during their run. FUT Esports, Man City Esports, Virtus.pro and R8 Esports all remain outside contenders, but have impressed in their seperate ways either at the Paris Major or by making the EWC.
FURIA and MIBR need a strong tournament to quash fears over South America’s declining LAN results this season. Both teams were knocked out of the EWC before reaching the Playoffs and have underwhelmed at the Majors this season.
- 17. TSM (Catalysm, Kevin, Sphinx)
- 18. Wildcard (Bananahead, Fever, Torsos)
- 19. Bigodes (Bemmz, DRUFINHO, nxghtt)
- 20. Five Fears (gunz, tehqoz, Snowyy)
Wildcard and
TSM will need to harness some emerging region magic if they are to replicate the success of APAC and Oceania at last season’s World Championship. Daniel
"Torsos" Parsons, who will be appearing in a record tenth World Championship, led Wildcard to the region’s first top-six placement since RLCS Season 6 last year. Nik Aiman Hakim
"Sphinx" Bin Nik Azhar, who played a
pivotal role in TSM’s win against NRG at the EWC, will again be leading APAC out at the 2026 World Championship.
