The EWC VALORANT event kicks off on July 8 with the first round of group matches.
SAUDI ARABIA – The Esports World Cup (EWC) has officially unveiled the schedule and opening matchups for the VALORANT Group Stage, which kicks off on July 8.
A total of 16 teams will compete for a share of the US$1,250,000 prize pool at the STC Esports Arena in Riyadh, with US$500,000 reserved for the eventual champions. The group stage is divided into four groups of four teams, with each group featuring teams from different regions.
Group A is headlined by Paper Rex, the newly crowned VCT Masters Toronto champions, who are riding a wave of momentum into the Riyadh tournament. The Southeast Asian powerhouse will begin their EWC campaign against Bilibili Gaming. Also in the group, G2 Esports will go head-to-head with Karmine Corp, now reinforced by Matias “Saadhak” Delipetro and Dmitrii “SUYGETSU” Iliushin.
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Group B will see Sentinels take on BBL Esports, while DRX face off against VCT CN Stage 1 champions, Xi Lai Gaming.
Group C features a particularly intriguing storyline. Team Heretics will clash with NRG Esports in a match filled with personal history: Benjy “benjyfishy” Fish, who rose to fame in Fortnite under the NRG banner, now goes head-to-head with his former org in a different title altogether. Meanwhile, RRQ will test their mettle against Chinese underdogs Titan Esports Club.
Finally, Group D is already being dubbed the “Group of Death” and for good reason. The last EWC VALORANT group features some of the most dangerous and battle-tested rosters in the tournament. 100 Thieves will go head-to-head with FNATIC, the perennial European powerhouse that recently made an impressive lower-bracket run at Masters Toronto, ultimately finishing as runners-up. The other matchup pits Gen.G against EDward Gaming, China’s most internationally experienced team and the 2024 VALORANT world champions.
EWC VALORANT will start off with BO1 matches, then switch to BO3s for the rest of the tourney (except for the BO5 grand final).
The top two teams from each group will advance to the single-elimination playoffs, where the stakes get even higher. Matches will be broadcast on dual streams throughout the group stage and quarterfinals. Starting from the semifinals, coverage will shift to a single main stream.
The schedule and draw for all EWC VALORANT opening matchups can be found below (time in GMT+8):
Tuesday, July 8
- 17:00 – Paper Rex vs. Bilibili Gaming [Group A]
- 17:00 – G2 Esports vs. Karmine Corp [Group A]
- 18:00 – Sentinels vs. BBL Esports [Group B]
- 18:00 – DRX vs. Xi Lai Gaming [Group B]
- 19:00 – NRG vs. Team Heretics [Group C]
- 19:00 – RRQ vs. Titan Esports Club [Group C]
- 20:00 – 100 Thieves vs. FNATIC [Group D]
- 20:00 – Gen.G vs. EDward Gaming [Group D]
- 21:00 – Group A winners’ match
- 21:00 – Group B winners’ match
- 00:15 – Group C winners’ match
- 00:15 – Group D winners’ match
Wednesday, July 9
- 17:00 – Group A elimination match
- 17:00 – Group B elimination match
- 20:15 – Group C elimination match
- 20:15 – Group D elimination match
Thursday, July 10
- 17:00 – Group A decider match
- 17:00 – Group B decider match
- 20:15 – Group C decider match
- 20:15 – Group D decider match
Friday, July 11
- 17:00 – Quarter-final
- 17:00 – Quarter-final
- 20:15 – Quarter-final
- 20:15 – Quarter-final
Saturday, July 12
- 17:00 – Semi-final
- 20:15 – Semi-final
Sunday, July 13
- 16:00 – Third-place decider match
- 17:00 – Grand final
With 25 tournaments in 24 games announced to date, including four new games—Chess, Crossfire, FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves and VALORANT—EWC 2025 will bring together more than 2,000 elite esports players and 200 top Clubs for the largest multi-game competition in history, with a life-changing prize pool rewarding more players and Clubs on the world’s biggest stage.
The total $70+ million prize pool is allocated across the Club Championship, Game Championships, MVP Awards, and EWC Qualifiers. Out of this, $27 million is dedicated to the EWC Club Championship — an innovative cross-game format that rewards the top 16 Clubs for their performance across multiple titles, with $7 million reserved for the 2025 champion. Game Championships will feature their own prize pools, totaling over $38 million combined, while standout players will compete for a share of the $450,000 MVP Award pool.
The 2024 event attracted over 500 million online viewers and 2.6 million visitors to Riyadh’s Boulevard City. At the inaugural EWC in 2024, Team Falcons captured the world’s attention, running up the leaderboard with 10 top-three finishes, including three first-place placements, to earn 5,665 points and ultimately win the $7 million Club Championship title. North American Team Liquid finished in second place with 2,545 points and French Team BDS placed third with 2,000 points.
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Cover photo courtesy of EWC
