The final week of June unveiled the first six teams that qualified for the first edition of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege Esports World Cup, with Team Bliss, PSG Talon, FaZe Clan, w7m esports, FURIA Esports, and Team Liquid clinching a spot to compete in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 31 to August 4.
However, with ten spots to be filled, almost fifty teams from around the globe are still in the race to feature in the event, including rosters from Europe, North America, Japan, Asia, MENA, and LATAM.
Here are the teams that could qualify for the Esports World Cup:
Asia
The Asian Esports World Cup Closed Qualifier will be played from July 3 to July 4 and includes the following eight teams:
- Bleed Esports
- FURY
- Elevate
- Dire Wolves
- Rival Esports
- Knock Knock
- PrevailANZ
- NoCapR6
Given Bleed Esports' current international run, with 2-3 records in the last two BLAST R6 Major Swiss Stages and a Top 12 finish at the Six Invitational 2024, the Asian-majority roster is the region's favorite to qualify for the Esports World Cup.
Additionally, fans will have the chance to see Jake "Leadr" Fortunato playing for Bleed Esports. The British player arrived at the team following Jay "Asphy" Wan's departure.
Bleed Esports' main competitors to qualify for the Esports World Cup should be FURY, Elevate, and Dire Wolves. As of now, the fans expect Bleed Esports to play against FURY in the qualifier's grand final, where anything could happen.
MENA
The MENA Esports World Cup closed qualifier began on July 2 and will conclude on July 3. These are the teams that featured in it:
- Team Falcons
- Geekay Esports
- The Vicious
- Twisted Minds
- Onyx Revens
- EASTSIDE
- ROC Esports
- AKATSUKI TEAM
The majority of the teams in MENA's closed qualifier for the Esports World Cup introduced European players to their squads. Out of the eight rosters in the competition, only Onyx Revens and ROC Esports decided to compete with full-MENA squads.
Later today, Team Falcons and Twisted Minds will meet in what will be a special match for the European organization-less roster Team 86, as the two former teammates tucanQ and Robby will face off. Meanwhile, Geekay Esports will play against ROC Esports, who finished in second place in the Saudi eLeague 2024 Major 2.
Considering the bracket for today's matches, fans expect Geekay Esports and Team Falcons to meet in the tournament's grand final. Only the winner will qualify for the Esports World Cup.
LATAM
The LATAM Esports World Cup closed qualifier will begin on July 3 and end on July 4. The bracket will include the following teams:
- Team Cruelty
- Six Karma
- REVEN ECLUB
- CintaNegra Esports
- NXT Player
- Akave Esports
- AQUA
- yiyo
Arguably, the LATAM region is one of the most contested regions in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege competitive scene. After having access to five international competitions, no LATAM team has qualified for two international events yet.
Heading to LATAM's Esports World Cup Closed Qualifier, Team Cruelty, Six Karma, and REVEN ECLUB are the favorites to take the region's spot to compete in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Brazilian side will begin its road to the grand final against the female roster of Akave Esports, who qualified for the bracket after two forfeited wins in the open qualifier. If they win their match against the Mexican-majority squad, they will likely face REVEN ECLUB, which includes four European players and one American.
On the other side of the bracket, Team Cruelty, who qualified for the BLAST R6 Major Manchester, are the favorites to reach the grand final as they will play against the organization-less roster of yiyo and the winner of the match between NXT Player and CintaNegra Esports.
Europe
Europe's Closed Qualifier for the Esports World Cup will include eight Europe League 2024 rosters and will face each other from July 5 to July 7. The teams qualified are:
- G2 Esports
- Team Secret
- Into the Breach
- Virtus.pro
- Team BDS
- Wolves Esports
- ENCE
- Fnatic
The most awaited quarter-final match is the one between Team BDS and Virtus.pro, with the French-majority squad being the favorite to take the win. However, both rosters met in the open qualifiers, a match that ended in a 2-0 win for the Russians. The winner of the series will play against the winner of the game between Team Secret and ENCE.
Meanwhile, G2 Esports will face off against Wolves Esports, as both sides have made two changes to their respective lineups. The winner will play against the victorious side from the game between Fnatic and Into the Breach.
Eventually, the winners of the semi-final matches will qualify for the Esports World Cup. The losers of the semi-final games will meet in a third-place decider game, with the winner taking Europe's last spot to compete in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
North America
North America's Esports World Cup closed qualifier will be played from July 5 to July 7 and will include the following eight teams:
- Soniqs
- Oxygen Esports
- DarkZero Esports
- Luminosity
- Cloud9 Beastcoast
- Wildcard
- M80
- Spacestation Gaming
Although fans are looking forward to seeing the BLAST R6 Major Manchester champions in action for the first time since their partnership with Cloud9, all the eyes will be set on the former G2 Esports player Benjamin "Benjamaster" Dereli, who will play for Spacestation Gaming against Oxygen Esports.
Meanwhile, DarkZero Esports will play against Wildcard and M80 will face off against Luminosity, who unexpectedly defeated the European-majority roster in the open qualifiers.
Just like in Europe's closed qualifier, the semi-final winners will qualify for the Esports World Cup, with the last spot being given to the third-place match winner.
Japan
Last but not least, Japan's Esports World Cup closed qualifier will start on July 6 and end on July 7. These are the eight teams that will compete in this weekend's qualifier:
- SCARZ
- CAG Osaka
- IGZIST
- KINOTROPE gaming
- ENTER FORCE.36
- Crest Gaming Lst
- DOPENESS
- REALIZE
After qualifying for every single BLAST international competition since the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen, the back-to-back Japanese champions SCARZ are the favorites to take the region's spot to compete in the Esports World Cup. Given the shape of the bracket, fans expect the Japanese to play against CAG Osaka in the grand final, which will be played on Sunday.