Esports World Cup announces $75m prize pool and 2026 schedule

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 20/01/2026

The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWFC) has revealed more details about this year’s Esports World Cup.

After confirming the debut of Trackmania at the Esports World Cup, all game titles are locked in for this year’s games.

And the event will feature a new record prize pool of $75 million (£55.8m), a $5m (£3.7m) increase from last year.

Esports World Cup 2026 prize pool breakdown

Of that $75m prize pool, $30m (£22m) will be given out to the top 24 clubs in the Club Championship.

This award, won both previous years by Team Falcons, financially rewards the organisations that win the most Esports World Cup tournaments.

In addition to that, over $39m (£29m) will be handed out in total across all of the individual tournaments.

The rest of the prize pool will be distributed through a combination of club and player awards, including MVP awards and the Jafonso Award.

Named after Manchester City’s EA FC pro João ‘Jafonso’ Vasconcelos, the Jafonso Award gives an additional $50k (£37k) for players or Clubs that win a Game Championship after advancing from a Last Chance Qualifier.

Esports World Cup week-by-week breakdown

Here is a look at the full schedule for the 2026 Esports World Cup, with what games you can expect to see each week and each event’s individual prize pool.

It’s mobile esports which lead the prize pools this year.

PUBGM, Honor of Kings, and Men’s MLBB will all feature $3m (£2.2m) prize pools.

Meanwhile, Women’s MLBB will only have $500k (£372k) on the line.

Week 1 (July 6th – 12th)

• Valorant ($2m/£1.5m)
• Apex Legends Global Series ($2m/£1.5m)
• Dota 2
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves ($1m/£745k)

Week 2 (July 13th – 19th)

• League of Legends ($2m/£1.5m)
• Free Fire ($1m/£745k)
• Dota 2 ($2m/£1.5m)
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational ($500k/£372k)

Week 3 (July 20th – 26th)

• EA FC 26 FC Pro World Championship (?)
• PUBG Battlegrounds ($2m/£1.5m)
• Teamfight Tactics ($500k/£372k)

Week 4 (July 27th- August 2nd)

• Overwatch 2 Champions Series ($1m/£745k)
• Call of Duty Warzone ($1m/£745k)
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang MSC ($3m/£2.2m)
• Street Fighter 6 ($1m/£745k)

Week 5 (August 3rd – August 9th)

• Call of Duty Black Ops 7 ($1.8m/£1.3m)
• PUBG Mobile PMWC ($3m/£2.2m)
• Honor of Kings World Cup ($3m/£2.2m)
• Tekken 8 ($1m/£745k)

Week 6 (August 10th – August 16th)

• Rocket League ($1m/£745k)
• PUBG Mobile PMWC ($3m/£2.2m)
• Chess ($2m/£1.5m)
• Rainbow Six Siege X ($1.5m/£1.1m)

Week 7 (August 17th – August 23rd)

• Counter Strike 2 ($2m/£1.5m)
• Fornite Reload Elite Series ($1m/£745k)
• Crossfire ($2m/£1.5m)
• Trackmania ($500k/£372k)

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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