Sources: Philippines appoint Rbtx, Singapore name Benkai, Saudi Arabia set to hire Andreas for VALORANT at ENC 2026

According to sources close to Sheep Esports, Jose "Rbtx" Jamir is expected to take on the head coach role for the Philippines at the VALORANT tournament of the Esports Nations Cup, while Benedict "Benkai" Tan is set to fill the same position for Singapore, and Saudi Arabia is expected to secure Andreas "Andreas" Nielsen for the role.

Having moved into an assistant coach position with Motiv Esports since mid-2025, Benkai is now set to lead the Singaporean VALORANT project for ENC 2026. Previously playing for teams such as Paper Rex and Global Esports, he enjoyed a prolific career as a player. With PRX, he won multiple titles, notably before the VCT adopted a regional format, and also qualified for several Masters events as well as VALORANT Champions 2022.

In terms of potential player options, Benkai has several choices, including his former teammate Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie, still playing for Paper Rex, Marcus "nephh" Tan at Bilibili Gaming, and Wayne "wayne" Chang, who has been competing in EMEA with Team Liquid since the start of the year. All three are currently active in the VCT. Additionally, five other names are active in Challengers Asia, including three players from the Singaporean club Rival Esports.

For the Philippines, the expected choice is current Team Secret head coach Rbtx, with the organization being the only local team competing in the VCT EMEA. After a stint with Rex Regum Qeon in 2022, he joined Oasis Gaming for two years, where he secured several national titles. In 2025, he initially joined Team Secret’s academy before stepping up as head coach of the main roster following poor results.

This will not be Rbtx’s first time representing his country internationally in VALORANT, as he already held the position during the Southeast Asian Games held in Cambodia in 2023. When it comes to building his roster, the Filipino coach will have plenty of options, including five players currently active in the VCT, such as Xavier "xavi8k" Juan, Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza, and Adrian "invy" Reyes, alongside a strong and active local scene in Challengers Southeast Asia.

After Kyrgyzstan and Mexico, this marks the third time Sheep Esports has reported a head coach who does not share the nationality of the team they will oversee for the ENC VALORANT tournament. A Danish coach, Andreas will therefore operate with Saudi Arabia, a country he knows well, having been based there for nearly two years. Initially active in Europe with WAVE, who cars? and CASE Esports; he later joined Twisted Minds in mid-2024 as head coach.

He held that role until moving to AlQadsiah Esports at the start of 2026, still as head coach and still within Challengers MENA. After winning both Stage 1 splits of the league with TM, he went on to claim the LAN finals with them, qualifying for Ascension 2025, which ultimately did not result in promotion to VCT for the Saudi organization.

Aside from Abdullah "ExiT" Al-Twaijri, who signed with Natus Vincere, and Awab "Recoil" Hussain, who has played for TSM and is currently competing in VCL North America, most Saudi players are active in local competitions, including the MENA Middle East league. The region is split between North Africa and the Middle East, where Saudi Arabia stands as the most represented nation in 2026, with 33% of participants being of Saudi origin.

Scheduled from November 2 to 29 for its inaugural edition in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the nation-based competition, set to be the largest in esports history, is expected to bring together thousands of players from around a hundred countries, competing across nearly 16 titles. Alongside the VALORANT tournament, which will take place from November 8 to 15, national team competitions will also be held in Counter-Strike, Rocket League, and Rainbow Six Siege. For Riot Games’ FPS, around 32 teams, each representing a nation, will compete on site.

Before that, participants must first be determined. The Esports Foundation, which oversees both the ENC and the Esports World Cup, has decided that 16 of the 32 teams will qualify directly for the main event based on their representatives’ results within Riot Games’ official circuits. The remaining teams will have to go through one of seven regional qualifiers, each granting two spots. The final two slots are expected to be distributed as wildcards by the ENC, likely at the discretion of the event organizer.