The Esports World Cup lands in Paris with a million on the table

The Esports World Cup has changed its skin. The mega-event born in Riyadh is being held this year at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, and Street Fighter 6 takes up its fourth week with 32 players splitting a million dollars. The venue change isn't a logistical footnote: it brings the tournament to a European audience that until now watched it in the small hours.

The ghost of the three-peat

One number frames everything: Xiao Hai won the 2024 and 2025 editions. Nobody has strung together three, and the way he landed the second one — coming back when he was already written off — is exactly the kind of precedent that sits in the head of whoever draws him.

Across from him is about as close to an elite consensus as it gets: MenaRD arrives with back-to-back EVO titles, Yamaguchi with an EVO Japan won against more than seven thousand entrants, and Daigo keeps turning up on stages where nobody expects him anymore.

What makes the EWC interesting is that it isn't a straight bracket: there are two group stages before the playoffs, so whoever reaches the end will have got there by winning a lot, not by dodging much. The matches from this edition are already in the finder.