The Esports World Cup is back, and this time it brought friends: a record $75 million overall prize pool, a new European home in Paris, and a fresh set of rules that finally let crypto companies into the building. Well, sort of.
MIBR’s Brazilian squad stole the show in VALORANT Round 1, with players Verno and aspas sitting atop the individual leaderboards after the opening matches. The top five performers through Round 1 are Verno, aspas, Marteen, Lar0k, and Starxo, a list that MIBR’s duo leads convincingly after their 2-0 dismantling of Global Esports in Group D Upper Bracket Round 1 on July 3.
The tournament and its stakes
The EWC VALORANT 2026 tournament runs from July 2 through July 12, with $2 million in prize money allocated specifically to the VALORANT competition. That’s a fraction of the overall $75 million purse spread across the entire Esports World Cup.
This year’s event marks a significant geographic pivot. The EWC relocated from Riyadh to Paris, making this the first edition of the VALORANT tournament held on European soil.
