PUBG Mobile is officially part of the inaugural Esports Nations Cup 2026, and the mobile battle royale title will take center stage from November 3 to November 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation, the event brings together national teams instead of club-based rosters. 32 National teams will compete against each other for a total prize pool of $1,320,000, which makes it a historic moment in the history of nation-based esports in PUBG Mobile.
ENC 2026 PUBG Mobile Format Explained
There are two main phases to this event, the first being the Group Stage and then the Final.
The 32 teams will be separated into 4 groups of 8 teams each during the group stage and compete against each other in a round-robin format from November 3 – 5. All teams will play 9 matches, providing consistency across different maps and styles of play.
The distribution of regional slots is as follows:
- North and Central America: 2
- South America: 1
- Europe West: 2
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia: 2
- Middle East and North Africa: 2
- Central and Southern Africa: 2
- East and South Asia: 1
- Southeast Asia and Oceania: 2
With 23 nations represented at last year’s Esports World Cup PUBG Mobile main event, expectations are high for even broader participation this time. The Nations Cup adds national pride to what is already an extremely competitive atmosphere heading into the month of November.
The top 4 teams from each group will then qualify for the Grand Finals and narrow down to 16 total teams. This will eliminate all the teams that did not qualify for the Grand Finals.
The Grand Finals will be held from November 6 – 8. A maximum of 18 matches will be played using the Smash Point method of scoring. The Smash Point scoring method scores teams on how consistently they perform over the entire match series, so even if one team performs extremely well, they will likely not win the championship without performing consistently throughout the entire series of matches.
Qualification System and Regional Slots
Half of the total 32 teams will be directly invited to the Esports Nations Cup 2026 tournament via a direct invitation.
The full breakdown of the sixteen spots includes 12 teams qualifying from the PUBG Mobile National Team Rankings and 4 teams that receive special invitations.
The PUBG Mobile National Team Rankings consider performance from the 2025 PUBG Mobile World Cup, and the 2025 PUBG Mobile Global Championship as well as the 2026 PUBG Mobile Global Open.
Points are earned by clubs through their players who earn point(s) individually and each player on the recently ranked 4 players in their nation’s ranking point(s). The last day for teams to earn ranking points on behalf of any club is June 7, 2026.
The remaining sixteen will qualify through various regional qualification routes.
Fourteen teams will qualify via the regional double elimination brackets occurring from July 10 to July 12, 2026, with an additional two teams via wildcards.
