
Rainbow Six Siege has been announced as part of the Esports Nations Cup 2026 which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November 2026.
Today's announcement includes a brief look at how the Esports Nations Cup 2026 will be played. First of all, it's important to mention that the Esports Nations Cup 2026 will not be part of the BLAST R6 2026 season. However, the links between the teams, players, and the competition are obvious.
The Rainbow Six Siege Esports Nations Cup 2026 will be played between November 18 and November 22.
Understanding the way countries will qualify for the Rainbow Six Siege Esports Nations Cup 2025 can be a bit tricky, but we will do our best to explain it.
The main event will include 24 nations. Half of these countries will come from a national ranking, which will cutoff on May 17. Later, ten more nations will reach the event through the qualifying stage, which will be played between May 29 and May 31. Finally, the last two nations will be wildcards.
Here's how the qualification process will work:
The Esports Nations Cup will determine its direct invites via the Siege National Team Ranking that takes into account official Six Invitational points standings and EWC 2025 results, with points awarded through official Rainbow Six competition, including Regional Leagues, Majors, and the Six Invitational. The national ranking will then accumulate the points of the top five players on the submitted national roster. The cut-off date for the national ranking is May 17. - Esports Nations Cup 2026 Official Press Statement

Across the five days of action, nations will fight to prevail over the rest. The first stage will see the 24 nations being split into four groups of six countries each. The format used will be a round-robin.
Later, the second stage will include 16 teams competing in a single-elimination playoff bracket. All group stage matches will be BO1. Playoff matches will be BO3 while the Grand Final will be BO5.
We will launch more information about the Esports Nations Cup 2026 as soon as more details are revealed. For more information about Rainbow Six Siege and its esports scene, make sure to check out Siege.GG.
