T1 and LOUD took the final two places in the VALORANT Champions Shanghai 2026 playoffs on Sunday, October 4, each winning its decisive group-stage match 2-0, Esports Insider reported. LOUD beat Global Esports and T1 beat FUT Esports, results that ended the group stage and completed the eight-team knockout field.
According to Sheep Esports figures cited by Esports Insider, LOUD took Split 13-8 and Sunset 13-9. The Brazilian side came through a close first half on Split before winning eight consecutive attacking rounds, then built a 9-3 lead on Sunset and held on to finish the sweep. In-game leader Roberto "erde" Lobos led the series for LOUD.
T1 won both of its maps against FUT by the same 13-10 scoreline, first on Sunset and then on Ascent, with Ham "iZu" Woo-ju singled out for a particularly strong performance. The win gave the South Korean organization its first top-eight finish at Champions, in its third appearance at the event.
Global Esports and FUT both lost their decisive matches and missed the playoffs. The completed field has four teams from the Americas, three from Pacific and one from EMEA:
- Americas: 100 Thieves, NRG, G2 Esports and LOUD
- Pacific: Paper Rex, T1 and Nongshim RedForce
- EMEA: Team Vitality
The opening-round draw paired LOUD with Paper Rex and T1 with NRG. Under the playoff format, the loser of each of those series drops to the lower bracket rather than being eliminated.
