The Esports Foundation (EF) launched the global Road to ENC qualification program for the Esports Nations Cup 2026 (ENC), the global nation-based esports competition set to debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from November 2-29, 2026.
Over 100,000 players from more than 150 countries and territories are expected to compete across hundreds of events taking place throughout 2026 for the opportunity to represent their country or territory on the global stage.
Designed to reflect the structure of each game ecosystem, the Road to ENC combines multiple qualification models across 16 participating titles. The system is supported by the ENC Rankings, which determine direct invitations to the ENC Finals across all games by tracking player performances across major international competitions and translating them into national standings.
Team Coaches across nine team-based titles – Dota 2, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, PUBG: Battlegrounds, PUBG MOBILE, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League and VALORANT – submitted rosters by the May 10 deadline. These rosters, once announced, will determine each country’s or territory’s points in the ENC Rankings to identify direct invitations for each game title after the respective ranking cutoff dates. All remaining submitted rosters will play their way through regional qualifiers.
In Counter-Strike 2 and Apex Legends, players have to form their own rosters aligned with the ENC eligibility criteria and sign up for the qualifiers online. The best performing teams will represent their country or territory at the Esports Nations Cup in November. Despite Street Fighter 6 being played in a team format at ENC, the qualifiers will take place in a solo player format to make them more accessible, with the winning players qualifying not only themselves, but their nations to the event. The remaining slots for those roster will be filled by the highest-placed players from the rankings.
Solo player titles – Chess, EA SPORTS FC, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and Trackmania will operate through ranking-based invites and open qualifiers that allow players to compete directly for places at the ENC Finals, providing tens of thousands of players the opportunity to make it to Riyadh. Open qualification means that an unlimited number of players from every country or territory can sign up to become one of up to two players per nation to qualify for the Finals.
“The Road to ENC is designed to reflect how esports actually operates globally,” said Fabian Scheuermann, Chief Games Officer at the Esports Foundation. “Different games, regions and communities require different qualification models, whether through direct national team selection by country and territory, open qualifiers or player-built rosters. Bringing those systems together into one international structure is what allows the ENC to create the broadest possible competitive footprint for esports.”
Following a review of latency, regional balance and competitive conditions, updates have also been introduced across select titles to further strengthen competitive integrity and improve the consistency of regional qualification pathways. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Rocket League have also received updates to their slot allocation systems to ensure that all qualifying teams compete through a minimum number of matches.
Fans and players are now able to find all qualifier details and rulebooks for their respective titles on the official ENC 2026 website, with additional qualification details for EA SPORTS FC and Apex Legends to be announced directly by Electronic Arts in the coming weeks. The rulebooks also include critical information, such as country and territory assignments to regional qualifiers, age restrictions, and other eligibility criteria.
By bringing together national team partners, publishers, coaches, players and local ecosystems into a unified competition structure, the Road to ENC establishes a recurring global qualification season for international esports competition, creating long-term pathways for players to participate on the world stage.
Additional information about the Esports Nations Cup will be released in the coming weeks. To stay up to date with the Esports Nations Cup 2026 date, visit esportsnationscup.com, and follow ENC on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and follow the Esports Foundation on LinkedIn.
