100 Thieves opened its Esports World Cup 2026 campaign with a 13-10 victory over Rex Regum Qeon on Ascent, setting the tone for what promises to be a grueling 10-day tournament in Paris. The win slots the US-based organization into a strong early position in Group A, where margins between teams are razor-thin.
The match took place on July 2, the first day of the EWC 2026, held at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. With a $2 million prize pool on the line and 16 teams competing in offline play, every round counts.
The match and what it tells us
Here’s the thing about this matchup: the two teams entered the tournament ranked almost identically. 100 Thieves sat around 14th in the world, while RRQ held a ranking near 13th. This wasn’t a David-and-Goliath scenario. It was a coin-flip match on paper, and 100 Thieves came out on the right side of it.
EWC 2026: the bigger picture
