The Esports Foundation has officially locked in the 16 directly invited countries and their rosters for the VALORANT tournament at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026. It is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 8 to 25.
A total of 111 regional teams were submitted worldwide, but only the top 16 squads earned automatic entry into the 32-team main stage.
These invitations were handed out using a strict point system that measured individual player performances across the official VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) circuits.
The 16 directly invited national teams locked into the main event are:
The United States enters the Esports Nations Cup – VALORANT as the favorite after securing the number one seed with a maximum score of 13,000 points. The American powerhouse lineup relies heavily on the star trio of Trent, Valyn, and Leaf, who have consistently dominated VCT Americas.
They are backed by massive talents, including two-time world champion Ethan, current world champion Skuba, Masters Madrid winner Zekken, and elite operator player Cryocells. Meanwhile, Canada has created a massive wave of excitement by bringing legendary stars TenZ and Marved out of retirement to play alongside VCT standouts like mada, eeiu, koalanoob, and JonahP.
While the USA is a favourite, the competition this year will be a nail-biter as top talents from both Asian and South American regions are also getting direct invites to the tourney.
Brazil will field a highly popular, title-threatening roster that reunites Sacy, who has won a Masters and a Champions trophy, with his former championship-winning teammates Aspas and Less.
South Korea answers with a dangerous blend of talent, pairing Nongshim RedForce’s core group of Francis, Ivy, and Dambi with T1’s star players BuZz, Munchkin, and iZu.
China rounds out the top international favorites by leaning on the core of EDward Gaming, bringing in the highly promising trio of ZmjjKK, CHICHOO, and nobody to Riyadh.
Lastly, notable European pairs among these invites include Finland’s duo of Derke and Jamppi, Great Britain’s Keiko and benjyfishy, and Lithuania’s famous brother duo of Boo and MiniBoo.
For the rest of the world, the final 16 spots on the main stage will be decided during a series of regional qualifiers.
Featured image credit: Esports Foundation
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