Qualifying for the first Esports Nations Cup has finished, with 24 national squads securing places at the $1,320,000 LAN event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. HLTV reported the completed field on July 20, following a series of regional qualifiers played around the world.
The national-team format pulled a number of established Counter-Strike players away from their usual line-ups to compete for their countries, and in several cases put players from rival organizations on the same roster.
Who made it through
Owen "smooya" Butterfield and Oscar "AZUWU" Bell led the United Kingdom through the West Europe qualifier, HLTV reported. Germany qualified from the same region with a squad drawn from BIG and M80 that featured Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz, Fritz "slaxz-" Dietrich and Elias "s1n" Stein.
In East Europe, Laurentiu "lauNX" Tarlea helped Romania reach Riyadh, while Justinas "jL" Lekavicius turned out for Lithuania, which also took a place. Elsewhere, David "dav1deuS" Tapia Maldonado and Matias "HUASOPEEK" Ibanez Hernandez qualified with Chile, former Aurora coach Sezgin "Fabre" Kalayci guided Turkey through, and a group of current and former FlyQuest players qualified together with Australia.
Several long-serving figures in the scene also played or coached qualifiers. Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom and his brother Nabil "Nivera" Benrlitom helped Morocco secure a berth, Joshua "steel" Nissan led Canada to qualification, and former Major winner Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev coached Kazakhstan to a place in the main event.
Format and schedule
The main event runs from November 10 to 15. The 24 qualified teams will be drawn into four groups for a best-of-one round-robin group stage, after which the survivors advance to a single-elimination playoff bracket played as best-of-three series, with a best-of-five grand final.
The tournament is the first edition of the Esports Nations Cup, and its $1,320,000 prize pool is among the larger purses on the Counter-Strike calendar for an event outside the established circuit. HLTV did not report how that prize money will be split between the 24 teams, or when the group draw will be made.
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