Falcons start Worlds in the Play-In against FUT

Team Falcons open the 2026 World Championship in the Play-In. They meet FUT Esports on Tuesday, 15 September at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

Falcons won the Esports World Cup on 16 August, 4-0 against Spacestation Gaming. That result does not put them in the Worlds group stage.

The other first-round Best-of-Fives:

• Five Fears vs Mate y Tapa
• Bigodes vs Virtus.pro
• TSM vs R8 Esports

The Falcons lineup is dralii, Kiileerrz. and Rw9.. FUT qualified through the NA LCQ with jstn, Chronic and Cheese.

Format

Eight teams, GSL, all matches Best-of-Five. Two losses eliminate a team. Four advance into a 16-team group stage.

Virtus.pro, Team Falcons, TSM and Five Fears reached the Play-In on points. Mate y Tapa (EU), R8 Esports (MENA), FUT Esports (NA) and Bigodes (SAM) came through the Last Chance Qualifiers.

Fort Worth

Worlds runs 15–20 September, 20 teams, $1,200,000. Play-In and groups are closed. The arena opens to the public for the playoffs, Friday 18 through Sunday 20 September.