The opening day of the Esports World Cup 2026 Open Qualifier in Paris delivered few surprises among the main favorites, with BC.Game, Liquid, HEROIC, BIG and several other notable teams making strong starts. BC.Game were among the first teams to secure a place in the next stage of the competition, while Liquid, 100 Thieves and other groups will finish their qualification battles on Saturday. The 64-team LAN qualifier is divided into 16 groups of four. The top two teams from each group advance to the playoffs, where only four spots at the $2 million Esports World Cup 2026 will ultimately be available.
BC.Game go 2-0 and secure playoff spot
BC.Game produced one of the strongest runs among the headline teams on the opening day. Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and company began their campaign with a 2-1 victory over BASEMENT BOYS.
They then faced 1win in the winners’ match and delivered a much more convincing performance, sweeping their opponents 2-0. The result gave BC.Game first place in Group 6 and guaranteed their progression to the playoff stage. BASEMENT BOYS remained alive after beating Citron 2-0 and will now meet 1win in the group’s decisive series for the second playoff ticket.
HEROIC survive 9INE test
HEROIC also completed the first day without a series defeat. They opened Group 7 with a comfortable 2-0 victory against REM before facing 9INE in the winners’ match. This time HEROIC were forced to work considerably harder, but eventually prevailed 2-1 to secure first place in the group and advance to the playoffs. 9INE will receive another opportunity in the decider, where they will face ABT, who eliminated REM with a 2-0 victory.
BIG, Inner Circle and DENDELE cruise through
Several other teams secured playoff places without dropping a map. BIG defeated z to forward 2-0 before sweeping Fluxo by the same score to win Group 2. Fluxo will now meet DUSTY for the remaining qualification spot. Inner Circle were equally dominant in Group 1, beating NIO and ASTRAL 2-0. ASTRAL survived the elimination match against Kreazion and will get another opportunity to qualify in the decider.
DENDELE also finished 2-0 in Group 3 after clean victories over QueenConso and SAW. SAW recovered from their defeat by beating EAC 2-0 earlier in the day, setting up a rematch with EAC for the group’s second playoff berth. Betclic joined the list of undefeated group winners after beating Giant Pandas 2-0, while fnatic advanced from Group 8 with consecutive 2-0 victories over FKOMAR and 6666.
Liquid and 100 Thieves start with clean victories
The second half of the bracket also featured several major names, although their groups will only be completed on the second day. Liquid began Group 12 with a straightforward 2-0 victory over Dhala. They will next face Metizport, who defeated Prestige by the same score.
100 Thieves also avoided an early upset, sweeping SadFamous 2-0 in Group 11. Their next opponent will be NADE, who survived a three-map series against Eternal Fire. NRG started Group 14 with a 2-0 victory over Spirit HU and will play Acend in the winners’ match. Elsewhere, Virtus.pro beat Sangal 2-0, K27 defeated Dark Tigre 2-0, FOKUS swept Partizan, and OG opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over Vael.
Four EWC spots remain the ultimate prize
The first day has already separated several favorites from the field, but much of the qualifier remains undecided. Groups 1-8 will conclude with their decider matches, while Groups 9-16 still need to play winners’, elimination and deciding series.
BC.Game, HEROIC, BIG, Inner Circle, DENDELE, Betclic and fnatic are among the teams already through to the playoffs. Liquid, 100 Thieves, NRG, Virtus.pro and several other contenders will attempt to join them on Saturday.
Once the group stage is completed, the surviving teams will move into the playoff bracket, with only four eventually earning tickets to the $2 million Esports World Cup 2026 main event.
