Sunday, July 12, 2026

Sports - Al Jazeera:

Saudi esports clubs have cemented their place among the world's elite clubs since the launch of the Esports World Cup in 2024, after Team Falcons won the club championship in the first edition, then successfully defended their title in the 2025 edition, confirming their status as one of the world's leading esports clubs.

Arabs and peoples of the Middle East

In the third edition of the tournament, which the French capital Paris is hosting for the first time until next August 23, Saudi clubs face a new challenge to retain the club championship title, amid an expanding competitive base and an increasing number of participating clubs from around the world.

The club championship is the most prominent competitive track in the Esports World Cup, as it relies on accumulating points across various tournaments throughout the event period, requiring competing clubs to perform at high levels in a number of games, rather than relying on excellence in just one game. This makes success dependent on the depth of rosters, diversity of talent, and consistency in achieving results.

Team Falcons tops the list of participating clubs in terms of the number of tournaments they have qualified for in the 2026 edition, after securing spots in (18) tournaments, continuing as the strongest candidate to retain the club championship title.

The team's strength is not limited to the number of tournaments it participates in, but extends to having elite players in several of the most popular global games. It is a prominent competitor in Rocket League, and also enters strongly in Counter-Strike 2, Call of Duty: Warzone, and chess, in addition to its outstanding results in previous tournaments, most notably winning the Overwatch 2 title in the 2025 edition.

Team Falcons is no longer the sole representative of Saudi ambitions in the tournament, as Team Twisted Minds has emerged as one of the fastest-growing esports clubs in the Kingdom, after securing qualification for (9) tournaments in the Esports World Cup 2026, based on its outstanding results in several games, most notably winning the PUBG: Battlegrounds and Call of Duty: Warzone titles during the 2025 edition.

The growing presence of Team Falcons and Team Twisted Minds reflects the scale of development in Saudi esports, amid sustainable investment in talent, attracting top players, and expanding the scope of competition in various global games, which has strengthened the Kingdom's presence in the club championship in recent years.

In contrast, Saudi clubs face strong competition from several top global clubs, led by French team Team Vitality, which has qualified for (17) tournaments and has a wide base of outstanding players in multiple games, making it one of the top contenders to challenge Falcons for the club championship title in the current edition.

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