The organizers of the ambitious Esports Nations Cup 2026 have officially confirmed that the Rainbow Six Siege tactical shooter is included in the list of disciplines of the upcoming championship. The main show will unfold in Riyadh, by the way, in the period from November 18 to November 22, 2026, when the best tactics of the planet will come together in the struggle for dominance under the flags of their countries.
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Tournament grid and format of R6 Siege matches for ENC 2026
The grid of the Siege tournament looks fascinating — 24 teams will arrive in Saudi Arabia at once. At the start, all participants will be divided into 4 groups (each with 6 teams), where they will have to fight in a round-robin format to one victory. After this “meat grinder”, the 16 strongest rosters will go to the playoffs – there will already be a serious Best—of-3 elimination game up to the grand finals.
The selection system for the event is also interesting. Qualifications are scheduled for May 29-31, 2025, where 10 tickets will be awarded. Another 12 teams will enter Riyadh directly through the national Siege rating, and the organizers have left the 2 remaining slots under the Wild Card. In short, we are waiting for a unique format of national teams, where Ubisoft will team up with Electronic Arts, Krafton and Tencent to show the real power of national esports.
The rules of formation of national teams and the rules of the Nations Cup
By itself, the 2026 Nations Cup (or simply ENC 2026) is not just another inter—fight, but an attempt to recreate the spirit of the Olympics in numbers, gathering the elite under their banners in Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2. The main trick here is uncompromising: the national teams are formed strictly from holders of one passport, which, to be honest, takes the national rating of players to a whole new level of media coverage. The team spirit is absolute here, because you have to play not for the organization’s tag, but for the prestige of the whole country. However, the most interesting thing lies in the details of exactly how the teams will make their way through the selection screen.
Qualification stages and the playoff grid of the Riyadh tournament
The path to the trophy in Riyadh will be very thorny and consists of two tough stages. In the same CS2, the starting grid looks crazy — 96 countries break into the national qualifiers (where 32 to 64 teams are cut), and only the best of the best get to the 10 regional finals. The final goal is the coveted 24 slots in the main stage, where everyone will have a group stage in the round-robin format with matches up to one victory. The playoffs are unforgiving: the single-elimination grid, the Bo3 format, and the grand finals generally plan to play up to five wins — a real marathon for survival.
By the way, the ENC 2026 regulation is tightly tied to Valve’s global rating (VRS) as of June 1, 2026. If the country does not reach the top in terms of VRS points, the organizers, in fact, look at FACEIT Elo, so it will not be possible to “wind up” the status. The lineups are fixed without a single legionnaire — the purity of representation is most important here. This whole November 2026 season will take a whole week, and, apparently, Saudi Arabia is preparing such spectator zones that stadiums will burst at the seams. But the real intrigue revolves around how these victories are converted into the overall greatness of the country.
Tournament Format & Qualification Stages
The Nations points system and the ENC medal standings
The scoring system in ENC 2026 is a separate type of esports art, where 100 points are awarded for the first place, 80 for the second, and then descending. Plus, for every victory on the map in the Bo1 format, 5 more bonuses are awarded, which, in short, makes the teams sweat in every rink. All this forms the global medal standings, where the final gold of the nation is taken by the country that dominates in the sum of all disciplines. This is a great motivation for conditional Denmark or China to field top teams in both Dota and CS, using the full depth of their talent pool.
Interestingly, tiebreakers are also provided in the medal standings: if the scores are equal, the difference of the cards won and even the personal rating of the VRS players are used. Do you remember how Brazil snatched bronze from Sweden last time, beating them by 12 points only due to statistics? So, Saudi Arabia, as the host of the tournament, already has a 10-point bonus in their pocket for organizing, which immediately makes them favorites in the leadership race.
