Street Fighter 6 set to complete Esports Nations Cup lineup

According to sources close to Sheep Esports, the final title set to be announced for the Esports Nations Cup will be Street Fighter 6. The Esports Foundation, which operates both the ENC and the Esports World Cup, has already revealed 15 of the 16 games that will feature in this inaugural edition of the event, a national team-based tournament bringing together countries from around the world to compete in Saudi Arabia.

Scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, the Nations Cup sits at a crossroads in the calendar, between the end of competitive seasons, the start of the transfer window, and other international tournaments. Despite this timing, the competition aims to attract as many Tier 1 players as possible, something similar events have historically struggled to achieve outside of the Asian Games. As such, the ENC is casting a wide net, from major titles such as League of Legends, Honor of Kings and Counter-Strike 2, to Trackmania, as well as chess, which continues to carve out a place within the esports ecosystem.

After PUBG Mobile announced this Wednesday, Street Fighter is therefore expected to round out the selection, according to sources close to Sheep Esports. It will be only the second fighting game in the overall lineup, but with a twist, as it is expected to be played in a team format, similar to what the Street Fighter League previously implemented, although the exact format remains unknown at the time of writing. Per sources, 24 nations will take part, including 12 directly invited teams. The remaining 12 spots will be allocated as follows: two wildcards and 10 teams from the qualifiers.

Qualifier dates have not yet been announced, meaning the cut-off date to determine which nations receive direct invitations is also still unknown, although it is expected to fall around June or July. Indeed, invited teams are not selected at the discretion of the Esports Foundation, which oversees the entire event, but rather based on a global annual ranking system that evaluates countries according to the results achieved by players selected by their respective national partners.

These national partners are chosen through a global tender process launched by the organizers, who aim to develop legitimate national esports federations capable of managing their respective selections. Once selected, by the end of February, according to the ENC timeline, these partners must appoint a national manager, who will then be responsible for selecting coaches for each title in which they intend to compete.

Also, deadlines for national team selections have already been confirmed. Coaches must be appointed before March 29, 2026, while players must be selected by April 30 at 11:59 PM AST. It is also worth noting that the Esports Foundation has introduced roster composition restrictions for team-based games. This rule also extends to the two potential substitutes per nation, meaning no more than two players out of the six total selected can belong to the same esports organization.

For players holding multiple nationalities, the EWCF states that they may represent only one country throughout the entire process. At the time of writing, Sheep Esports is still unsure whether these limitations will apply to Street Fighter 6, given that the game remains fundamentally one versus one.

For players and their clubs, the ENC has specified that, depending on the title, this rule will come into effect between three and six months prior to the qualifiers and will remain in place until the conclusion of the tournament. It is also worth noting that the overall event regulations appear to allow multiple teams from the same country to participate in the qualifiers, although only one may ultimately compete in the main event.