Esports World Cup 2026 sees major upsets and strong starts

The Esports World Cup 2026 has seen significant action across its Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 competitions. In the Counter-Strike 2 tournament held in Paris, the Chinese squad JiJieHao secured a major upset against the top-ranked Team Spirit. Playing on Mirage in a best-of-one format, JiJieHao defeated the favorites, sending Spirit to the lower bracket.

In the Dota 2 competition at The International 2026 in Shanghai, TEAM VISION and BoomBoys both started the group stage with 2-0 records. TEAM VISION secured victories against Team Resilience and Team Falcons, while BoomBoys swept OG and overcame Iron Wing. The tournament features a $2.93 million prize pool and utilizes a Swiss-system group stage to determine which teams advance to the playoffs.