VALORANT Debuts Esports World Cup 2025 - Schedule, Prize Pool, Format & How to Watch
- Sagar Mankar
- Jun 10
- 3 min read
The inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) VALORANT tournament is set to bring the heat to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 8th to July 13th, 2025, with 16 of the best teams from around the globe competing for a $1.25 million prize pool.
Schedule
The tournament spans six days, divided into two phases: Group Stage and Playoffs. Below is the detailed schedule:
July 8 (Day 1): Group Stage – 12 matches across four groups.
July 9 (Day 2): Group Stage – 4 matches to determine advancing teams.
July 10 (Day 3): Group Stage – 4 matches to finalize the top two teams from each group.
July 11–13 (Days 4–6): Playoffs – Single-elimination matches, culminating in the Grand Finals on July 13.
The event is hosted at Boulevard Riyadh City, with matches spread across multiple arenas, including the Qiddiya Arena and others, to accommodate the large-scale production.
Prize Pool
The VALORANT Esports World Cup 2025 offers a $1,250,000 USD prize pool, making it one of the most lucrative VALORANT tournaments outside of the VALORANT Champions 2025 ($2,250,000 USD).
While the exact distribution across teams has not been officially detailed, the prize pool is expected to reward top placements, with additional bonuses like a $10,000 USD MVP award for the tournament’s standout player, as seen in other EWC events.
The total EWC 2025 prize pool across all 25 tournaments is a record-breaking $70 million USD, with VALORANT’s share being a significant portion.
Format
The tournament is structured in two phases:
Group Stage (July 8–10):
16 teams are divided into four groups of four.
Matches are expected to be Best-of-1 (BO1) for standard group stage games, with Best-of-3 (BO3) for elimination matches (based on similar EWC formats, though not explicitly confirmed for VALORANT).
The top two teams from each group advance to the Playoffs (8 teams total).
Playoffs (July 11–13):
A single-elimination bracket determines the champion.
Matches are likely Best-of-3 (BO3) for earlier rounds and Best-of-5 (BO5) for the Grand Finals, aligning with standard VALORANT esports formats.
The winner is crowned the first-ever EWC VALORANT champion.
Team Qualified for EWC VALORANT 2025
The 16 teams are selected exclusively from the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) ecosystem, with no non-VCT teams eligible. Each of the four VCT regions (EMEA, Americas, China, Pacific) contributes four teams, qualified as follows:
2 teams per region from the top performers in VCT 2025 League Stage 1.
2 teams per region from regional EWC Qualifiers (held May 16–26, 2025, for Americas and EMEA; May 22–25 for Pacific and China).
List of All 16 Teams at EWC VALORANT 2025
VCT Americas Teams
G2 Esports
Sentinels(Automatically qualified via Stage 1 top finishes.)
NRG
100 Thieves(Qualified through the EWC Americas Qualifier, defeating MIBR and Evil Geniuses.)
VCT China Teams
XLG Esports(The 2024 Ascension story continues after an impressive Stage 1.)
BiliBili Gaming (BLG)
EDward Gaming (EDG)(Winners of the VALORANT China Evolution Series Act 2.)
Titan Esports Club(Surprised everyone with a run through Dragon Ranger Gaming, BLG, and Wolves Esports.)
VCT EMEA Teams
Fnatic
Team Heretics(Stage 1 champions and runners-up.)
BBL Esports
Karmine Corp (KC)(Shocked the region by eliminating Team Liquid in the EWC EMEA Qualifier.)
VCT Pacific Teams
Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ)
Gen.G Esports(Previously secured EWC spots.)
Paper Rex
DRX(Qualified by winning the Pacific Qualifier playoffs, defeating Team Secret and Global Esports.)
Notably, ZETA DIVISION and DetonatioN FocusMe withdrew due to scheduling conflicts, and T1, winners of VALORANT Masters Bangkok, failed to make the cut after a group stage exit.
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