Team UK exit Overwatch World Cup 2023 playoffs at BlizzCon, Saudi Arabia go on to win, Overwatch League cancelled

JkAru19 and Backbone chilling during a pause

Team 7Lions, the roster representing the United Kingdom in the Overwatch World Cup 2023 at Blizzcon, have been knocked out.

They got off to a perfect flying start in group B, going undefeated in all three matches.

The 7Lions picked up 2-0 victories over Canada, Australia and Brazil, and only dropped one point to Canada on Ilios, which they won 2-1.

Unfortunately, despite not dropping a map in groups, their run at the Overwatch World Cup 2023 ended at the playoffs stage.

Team UK fell to Finland 3-0 in the quarter finals, leaving them in the top eight.

Team UK apologise after Overwatch World Cup 2023 exit

The UK players this year included WMaimone, Kai, Backbone, JkAru19, Smex, Kronus and FunnyAstro, with ChrisTFer as coach and TazMo the manager.

After the exit, ChrisTFer praised Finland and Saudi and said Team UK ‘lost confidence in dive as the week went on, so attempted a comp pivot yesterday. Scrim results were promising but clearly not enough.’

JkAru19 added: “No excuse, sorry all team GB fans, my teammates, coaches and manager. GGs.”

The Overwatch World Cup this year is taking place at BlizzCon in the Anaheim Convention Center, where Activision Blizzard – newly acquired by Microsoft – has also announced three new World of Warcraft expansions as well as updates to Classic WoW.

WMaimone said: “GGs Finland. Sorry to disappoint – really tried my best. Go all the way Vestola.”

FunnyAstro commented:

Backbone said: “0-3 vs Finland. That one might be on me.”

Overwatch World Cup 2023 – final four teams remain (update: Saudi Arabia crowned winners)

This year’s World Cup will conclude this weekend, with the grand final taking place around 11.45pm GMT.

At the time of writing this article, there are four teams remaining: South Korea and China in one semi final, and Finland and Saudi Arabia in the other.

Update: Saudi Arabia were crowned winners after reverse-sweeping China 3-2 in the final:

The news comes as the future of the esports Overwatch League is up in the air. Update (November 8th): It has now been cancelled.

A month ago, UK-focused franchise team London Spitfire finished top six at the Overwatch League 2023 Playoffs, as Activision Blizzard prepares building its ‘vision of a revitalised esports program’.

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.