Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) will be a featured title at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup 2026 (ENC), as announced by the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF). The tournament will form part of the multi-title national team event scheduled for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2-29, 2026.

The CS2 competition at the ENC is set to run from November 10-15, 2026. It will feature 24 national teams, determined through what the EWCF describes as “the largest open qualification program ever staged in Counter-Strike history,” involving more than 15,000 players across 3,000 teams in national and regional qualifiers.

The foundation states the historic scale of the qualifiers will allow countries and territories traditionally limited at elite club events to field full national teams. The qualification process will utilise a newly created CS2 National Team Ranking system to determine eligibility and seeding, based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), with points from a club’s top five players aggregated for their nation. For nations not covered by VRS, FACEIT Elo points will be used as a secondary metric.

The qualification pathway is a two-stage process. First, National Qualifiers will be held in 96 countries and territories from July 6-19, 2026. Winners will advance to Regional Qualifiers, which will allocate 24 spots for the Finals in Riyadh across ten global regions.

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“The ENC 2026 will deliver unprecedented national representation, enabling countries and territories that have traditionally been represented by only one or two players at elite Club events to field full national teams,” the foundation stated in a press release.

The announcement follows a prominent showing by “national teams” at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025, where all-Mongolian squad, The MongolZ, defeated the Turkish roster of Aurora Gaming at the CS2 grand final. The. Interestingly, according to the ENC rules, national teams in the competition cannot count only on players from a single organisation.

Other confirmed titles for the ENC 2026 include Trackmania, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, and Chess on Chess.com.

Follow all the latest developments at the live tracker for the Esports Nations Cup on The Esports Radar.

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