Team Falcons really kick off their 2026 Campaign, NAVI remain on top... The Esports World Cup week 3 recap

Falcons have finally kicked off their Esports World Cup 2026 campaign; Natus Vincere continue to lead the way, and Team Vision are emerging as surprise contenders. Here's a look back at the third week of the EWC. After two opening weeks featuring some of the biggest titles played in Paris, this past week appeared quieter on paper, but it turned out to be anything but.

Much of the activity came from PUBG: Battlegrounds, which delivered its results and, for the first time at the event, saw almost all of the title favourites score points. Right, Team Liquid? The Dutch-American organization, runners-up in the 2025 edition behind Team Falcons and ahead of Team Vitality, have now gone through their third game without earning a single point. Arriving in Paris with more modest ambitions, or at least with only ten participants compared to 13 in 2025, the club is the only top-eight finisher from last year's edition yet to get on the board.

Far ahead, and somewhat surprisingly for followers of Krafton's battle royale, four of the favourites picked up valuable points. First came Natus Vincere, who, thanks to an additional 500 points from a third-place finish, continue their run at the top, although several clubs are closing in. Tournament winners Virtus.Pro claimed the full 1,000 points awarded to the champions, enough to end this third week ahead of Team Vitality thanks to the points they had already collected. As a bonus, the Polish organization has now secured a chance to win the EWC overall, with one victory and two top-eight finishes, joining NAVI and Vitality on that very short list for now.

The Hive, meanwhile, was arguably the surprise of PUBG's top eight, finishing fifth to secure 200 points, just behind Team Falcons, who, for the first time at this EWC, earned more than 200 points from a single tournament. Points were collected by nearly every contender at the top, all the way down to Geekay Esports in sixth with 150 points, Gen.G Esports just behind with 100, and Twisted Minds rounding out the standings with 50 points that could still prove important in the end.

Already impressive in Apex Legends with a runner-up finish worth 750 points, Saudi organization Team Vision continue to make all the right moves. Competing in only their second title at this Esports World Cup, with just one player still to compete in Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8, they scored again, this time taking the maximum 1,000 points by winning Teamfight Tactics with their mostly Chinese lineup. Finishing ahead of Aurora, another contender for the top spots with eleven participations, the club appears to be on the right track to secure a respectable finish, potentially inside the EWC top 10.

Behind them, aside from Aurora, who finally scored their first points after coming up empty in their first four games across the opening two weeks, All Gamers collected 500 points with a third-place finish. Virtus.Pro, already enjoying a strong Esports World Cup, also added another 200 points in TFT, as did Weibo, the Chinese organization that finished eighth in the 2025 edition. T1, Fnatic, and especially Team Vitality failed to add any points to their totals.

Finally, EA Sports FC and its World Championship wrapped up the third week of competition in Paris. To everyone's surprise, Romanian player Razvan "RvPLegend" Puiu and his organization HYPERSPIRIT claimed the 1,000 points awarded to the winners, along with the accompanying prize money. Despite fielding several of the biggest names on the scene and looking well-positioned, Team Liquid once again failed to score any points in the football simulation title, just like Team Vitality, whose two French players had qualified through the Last Chance Qualifier. As a result, Team Falcons were the only EWC title contender to score points here, thanks to Anders "Vejrgang" Vejrgang's eighth-place finish.