The 14 teams advancing to the OWWC group stage

OWWC Group Stage locked in following online qualifiers

Jesse Brawders•8 June 2026•8 min read

The 2026 Overwatch World Cup completed its latest phase over the past two weeks. 28 teams from across the world battled to fill out the 14 remaining places in the group stage. Saudi Arabia and China have automatically secured their slots in the South Korea LAN (as the two finalists of the most recent 2023 World Cup), so let’s see how the qualifiers panned out for the rest of the pack.

Asia Group A

Standings

Match results

Maybe the simplest group to predict entering the online qualifiers was Group A from Asia.

South Korea began its run for redemption with a clean sweep in the group. This year’s roster brings a new generation of talent, after the country suffered its worst OWWC finish in 2023 (4th).

Close behind in second place was Japan. After losing to South Korea in their first game, Team Japan rebounded with clean wins against Pakistan and Hong Kong to earn the second bid from Group A.

The prospect of either Hong Kong or Pakistan making it out was slim entering the weekend, but both had their moments to shine.

Hong Kong managed to pull off a 3-1 win over the underdogs, Pakistan, to earn a 3rd-place finish.

And even though Pakistan did not win a series, this year’s tournament marked a successful first entry for a nation that already proved themselves in the Conference Cup.

Asia Group B

Standings

Match results

Unlike Group A, Asia’s Group B had the potential to be a bit more chaotic.

Australia led the way, only dropping one map to the Philippines on the final day. It was a nice start for the Aussies, who are eyeing another return to BlizzCon.

Entering the weekend, Thailand was the slight favorite over the Philippines and India, who both qualified through the Conference Cup.

But Thailand stood tall, sweeping India and the Philippines through a pair of strong performances. They enter Busan as one of the potential dark horse teams to make it all the way to Anaheim.

After a strong performance in the Conference Cup, the Philippines continued to improve across the weekend and once again swept India.

For Team India, this is a weekend they’ll want to forget. They weren’t able to build off of the momentum from the Conference Cup and bowed out of the tournament without winning a map during their final stage.

EMEA Group A

Standings

Match results

Simply put, Group A from EMEA was the group of death. All four nations had a history of success in the Overwatch World Cup and were looking to add another story to their legacy.

Above all the rest was Sweden, who only dropped one map to Finland throughout their online qualifiers run. Everything was working for Sweden, from standout plays from star DPS Kevin “kevster” Persson and the breakthrough addition of Oliver “Admiral” Vahar.

Denmark snatched the final spot in Group A thanks to a stellar Day 1 of their campaign. After defeating rivals Austria and Finland, Denmark still advanced to the group stage after falling to Sweden in the group’s final match.

Even though they came up short in making it out of the group, Austria continued some of their form from the Conference Cup to upset Finland.

For Finland, this year’s tournament is a story of what could have been. After falling in map 5 to Denmark, Finland was not able to pick up the pieces enough to earn a series win and escape the bottom of the group.

EMEA Group B

Standings

Match results

The award for the best finish for a Conference Cup qualifier team goes to Germany.

After putting away Portugal and Norway to qualify for Busan, Germany shocked the community with a stellar 3 - 1 win over Great Britain for the group’s top bid. Everything was stellar from Team Germany, as they’ve turned into a major team to watch in the group stage.

The final match is not how Team Great Britain would have wanted to finish this stage, but they still achieved their goal to make it out. The flexibility from their tankline remained a strong constant, but they will be hoping that the Jetpack Cat/Bastion meta subsides before Busan rolls around.

This year’s OWWC held a lot of questions for Norway with a relatively fresh roster. There were some apparent growing pains through the first two games, but Norway finished their run off strong with a 3-1 win over Portugal.

For Portugal, even making it to the online qualifiers was a massive achievement. From escaping a packed EMEA Conference Cup to taking a map from Norway, the future is bright for Portugal.

EMEA Group C

Standings

Match results

France continued to be a European powerhouse, dominating their way to the top seed in Group C. The result is a great bounce-back for support duo Brice “FDGod” Monsçavoir and Benjamin “Xerion” Nambruide, who were recently relegated from OWCS EMEA with Team Peps.

The final qualifying spot came down to Sunday’s game between Spain and Poland, with each team entering the day at 1-1. But the match was not as cinematic as some expected, with Spain rolling to a 3-0 win and a spot in the final 16.

Spain has all the pieces to make some noise in the next round, but it may come down to who they are paired with in their group.

Similar to other groups, both Poland and Ireland were unable to advance after qualifying through the Conference Cup.

Poland once again defeated Ireland, this time 3-1, to avoid the bottom and gave themselves the chance against Spain.

But for Ireland, they were just never able to turn the momentum around. After falling to Spain in the opening match, Ireland salvaged one map across their final two games.

Americas Group A

Standings

Match results

Heading into the first weekend, Canada was the favorite to win the group. The Canadians did not disappoint, taking the Group A top seed with ease.

Team Canada utilized their flexibility on the frontline throughout the online qualifier, consistently swapping around tanks Colin “Astro” Czulinski and Nick “False” Wiserman. It was a strong start to the OWWC campaign for a nation looking to return to BlizzCon for the sixth time.

Outside of Canada, it was slated to be a dogfight between invited nations Brazil and Colombia, as well as Puerto Rico, which qualified through the Americas Conference Cup.

Thanks to the DPS duo of Juan “T3MP” Sierra and Aaron “Lich” Seoprasad, Colombia stood tall against their challengers to book their ticket to Busan.

Puerto Rico nearly made it to the group stage, starting the stage off with a brilliant 3-1 win over Brazil. But they couldn’t put the pieces together against Colombia on Day 2, losing 0-3 and practically sealing their fate.

And at the bottom of Group A is Brazil. After a strong Top 16 finish in 2023, Brazil were eyeing another deep run into the tournament. But the heroics from DPS Isaiah “Hydron” Rodriguez weren’t enough, as Brazil were only able to steal one map away from each of their opponents.

Americas Group B

Standings

Match results

Well, nobody should be shocked about who finished first in Group B. After overhauling its roster following a Top 8 finish in 2023, the United States swept its way to the group stage. There are definitely still a few things to clean up for the U.S., but the online qualifiers were the exact start they were looking for.

And then there was the battle for second between Mexico and Chile. Mexico was one of the invited teams, while Chile was one of the pleasant surprises from the Conference Cup. And on Day 4 of the tournament, the squads finally got the chance to prove themselves.

After a 2 - 1 win on Oasis from Chile, Mexico turned the series around in a 3 - 1 win. Mexico’s breakthrough player, Angel “Santana” Santana Alvarez, was a strong presence up front throughout the entire series. And paired that with stunning plays from all three DPS players on the roster, Mexico earned their bid for Busan and could be a dark horse come August.

On the other side of the battle was Chile, finishing the online qualifier with a 1-2 record. Even though they may not have made it out of this stage, Team Chile has so much to be proud of from this year’s campaign. From an undefeated run in the Americas Conference Cup to pushing Mexico in a close series, the future for South American Overwatch is at an all-time high.

Argentina finished last in Group B. After barely squeaking out of the Conference Cup, not many saw the opportunity for them to advance. Even though it was a rough finish, it still marks the first OWWC that they’ve advanced past the first stage of qualification.

What’s next?

The top two teams from each group will advance and join Saudi Arabia and China in the OWWC Group Stage. The Group Stage will be played at a LAN tournament on August 21 in Busan, South Korea.

According to the press release from Overwatch Esports on June 5, more information on the OWWC Group Stage will be announced at a later date. Stay tuned to everything OWTV to get the latest details on the Overwatch World Cup.