Team UK exit Overwatch World Cup 2023 playoffs at BlizzCon, Saudi Arabia go on to win, Overwatch League cancelled
Dom Sacco, Senior Editor
Last Updated: 17/06/2025
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.’
Based on scrims Saudi and Finland were the best teams on the sig lucio comp and we felt our way through finals was not the mirror. We lost confidence in dive as the week went on so attempted a comp pivot yesterday. Scrim results were promising but clearly not enough.
— ChrisTFer (@ChrisTFerOW) November 3, 2023
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:
Got destroyed by Finland, wish we could've gone further but it was still fun to play on stage again after this year at Glads GGs
— TWIS FunnyAstro (@FunnyAstro) November 3, 2023
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:
An all-time great performance from our newest all-time great team.
— Overwatch Path to Pro (@owpathtopro) November 5, 2023
Congratulations to our 2023 Overwatch World Cup Champions, @SAOWWC! #OWWC2023 pic.twitter.com/uJeIVTi7ma
The news comes as the future of the esports Overwatch League is up in the air. Update (November 8th): It has now been cancelled.
Breaking: Overwatch League spokesperson confirms "transitioning from the Overwatch League and evolving competitive Overwatch in a new direction."https://t.co/pPor99qqbj
— Yiska (@YiskaOut) November 8, 2023
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’.
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Dom Sacco, Senior Editor
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He has almost two decades of experience in journalism, and left Esports News UK in June 2025. 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 also previously worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation.
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