Valorant Champions 2026: the group stage is over, we know the world's top 8

October 18, 2026, will be a big day for the entire community surrounding Valorant. Indeed, it is on this date that we will discover which team will be crowned champion of Riot Games' FPS. The group stage of the Valorant Champions 2026, held in Shanghai, has just ended. We now know the 8 teams that will start the final phase on October 7. Among them is Team Vitality, the last representative of the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). 

A game designed for competition

While Riot Games is known for its work on the essential League of Legends and the games derived from this universe, we must not forget that the American studio develops many other experiences, starting with Valorant, a first-person shooter that was released in June 2020 on PC, before being ported to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2024. Freely accessible, it allows two teams of five members to face off. The matches are based on a simple attack and defense system, with roles then reversed to offer everyone the same chances of success. The game, much like a certain Counter Strike, is perfectly designed for competition and thus for the Esports scene. Proof of this is that teams compete in the hope of lifting the Champions Trophy. 

This year, the Valorant Champions 2026 are being held in Shanghai, China. Four teams played at home, namely JD Gaming, XLG Esports, TYLOO, and EDward Gaming, the team crowned world champion in 2024. Unfortunately, 2026 did not benefit the home teams, all of which were eliminated during the group stage. On the EMEA side, it is Team Vitality that saves the day by managing to qualify for the quarter-finals. It will thus face the Korean team Nongshim RedForce in hopes of reaching the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Team Liquid and FUT Esports were eliminated. The same goes for the famous Karmine Corp which, despite all its efforts, lost 1 to 2 against Nongshim RedForce, after a very nice victory against XLG Esports and a defeat against NRG.

American teams dominate but others have not said their last word

Everything is going well, however, for teams from the Americas region since LOUD (Brazil) and the North American teams 100 Thieves, G2 Esports (even if the structure is European, it is indeed the division evolving in North America that is in question) and NRG are qualified for the quarter-finals. To complete the table, in addition to Team Vitality and Nongshim RedForce, we also find Paper Rex (from Singapore) and the famous South Korean team T1. Now we need to follow the matches in the coming days to see if the Team Vitality will manage to bring the title back to Europe or if 100 Thieves, the great favorite of the competition, will impose its style after having completely dominated its Group A.

Finally, we leave you with the clip of the official anthem of the Champions 2026 created in collaboration with Brunch Studios. If you haven't listened to it yet, you can now enjoy the track "If The Sun Burns Out Tonight" performed by Grabbitz, Oli Sykes, and Courtney LaPlante. A great way to set the mood while waiting to discover the surprises that this final stretch holds. 

Cover image: Riot Games®