Falcons stumble but stay on course for the title, Team Vitality lose ground, and T1 mount a comeback. Here's a look back at the fourth week of the
Esports World Cup. Halfway through the event in Paris, the Saudi organization, back-to-back defending champions and overwhelming favorites for a third straight title, has moved into the provisional lead, making it increasingly look like the trophy is theirs to lose.
Beating a direct rival...
Team Falcons got their week off to a strong start in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, opening the playoffs with a win over Team Vitality, one of their direct rivals in the Club Championship, despite the French organization having defeated the same roster during the group stage. It was therefore a bittersweet campaign for Vitality, who still walked away with 200 points, although few realistically expected them to make a deep run. Falcons eventually secured 300 points, only slightly more, after losing in both the semifinals and the third-place match to finish "only" fourth.
In one of the biggest surprises in MLBB history, and one of the first times an Western team has won the title, Team Spirit claimed the Mid-Season Cup championship, earning the 1,000 points awarded to the winners. The unexpected victory moves the Serbian-Russian organization into exactly 10th place in the overall standings, with Counter-Strike 2 still to come during the final week.
Then delivering a surprise title
With three players in the Street Fighter 6 Main Event, Team Falcons had the largest contingent in the tournament, and ultimately converted that into the title thanks to Jaime "Craime" Bustos. After advancing from the first group stage with a win over Amjad "AngryBird" Al-Shalabi, the Chilean was upset in the opening match of the second group stage by Shin "Leshar" Moon-sup, the EVO France 2025 champion. He then bounced back with two victories through the losers bracket, including one against fellow Falcons player Chan "Micky" Pak Yin.
Once the single-elimination playoffs began, Craime never looked back. He defeated legendary player Saul Leonardo "MenaRD" Mena II, then EVO Japan 2026 champion Eisuke Yamaguchi, before overcoming "Hibiki" in the grand final. The Japanese player, who had qualified through the Last Chance Qualifier, also surprised everyone by finishing runner-up. Falcons therefore left the SF6 tournament with 1,000 points, while every other Club Championship contender failed to score. EWC partner club Weibo, after a top-eight finish in 2025, collected 200 points thanks to MenaRD, although their lack of points in previous tournaments still makes another high finish highly unlikely for the Chinese organization.
And ultimately missing the opportunity
After winning
Overwatch 2 in 2025, Team Falcons failed to defend their title this year and did not score a single point, falling to Weibo Gaming just before the playoffs. Thanks to that playoff appearance and a fourth-place finish, the Chinese organization secured its best result of the Esports World Cup 2026 so far, bringing its total to 900 points by the end of the fourth week. Newly added to the EWC Partner Club program, T1 earned 500 points with a third-place finish, behind runners-up Twisted Minds and champions ZETA DIVISION.
With the 1,000 points secured by the Japanese organization, ZETA DIVISION now sits eighth overall with 1,500 points after four weeks, having also earned points in SF6 through Yamaguchi and recorded a top-six finish in Apex Legends during the opening week. They sit one place ahead of Twisted Minds, whom they defeated in the grand final. TM entered the top of the standings thanks to their 750 points here, in addition to the 300 points they previously earned in Warzone.
Every week has featured a battle royale, and this time it was Warzone, following Apex Legends, Free Fire, and PUBG: Battlegrounds. Still without a single point before this event, G2 Esports upset the favorites by winning the Resurgence Series 2026 Championship and claiming the winner's 1,000 points. T1 finished second for 750 points, their best result of this edition so far, and climbed into the overall top six, just behind Team Vitality. Twisted Minds, who had also been desperately short on points before Overwatch 2 and Activision's battle royale, climbed to ninth place by the end of the fourth week. Virtus.pro, who looked set to leave the week empty-handed, just like Natus Vincere, ultimately salvaged 50 points thanks to an eighth-place finish in Warzone.
