100 Thieves win first international title at the Valorant Esports World Cup 2026
After years of heartbreak and disappointing results, North American squad 100 Thieves have finally secured themselves a big win at the Valorant Esports World Cup, taking down regional rivals NRG Esports in the grand final. With this victory, the team takes home $600,000 in prize money and 1,000 Club Championship Points.
100Thieves slay their demons at EWC grand final
Despite entering the tournament as heavy underdogs, 100 Thieves went on a flawless group stage and playoff run to reach the grand final, where they were met by their North American adversaries – NRG – one of the best Valorant teams in the world.
Before the grand final matchup, NRG clearly had 100 Thieves’ number, winning all four head-to-head matchups this year. And if we’re looking at the map record, it was 8-1 in favor of NRG.
However, 100 Thieves came alive at the perfect time. The boys in red swept the first two maps 13-7 and 13-6 to go up 2-0 in the Best-of-five series. NRG punched back with a dominant 13-2 win in the third map, but 100 Thieves denied the reverse sweep by pulling off a 3-9 comeback on the fourth map, winning it 14-12 in overtime.
Cryocells was easily the man of the match for 100 Thieves, dropping a convincing 1.22 average rating across the series. For his efforts, the Esports World Cup Foundation has also awarded him tournament MVP honors, sending him an extra $25,000 on top of the tournament prize pool.
Cryocells (left) wins tournament MVP honors (Image via Esports World Cup Foundation)
As a result of their victory, 100 Thieves got the opportunity to select the keys of three teams to embed on their newly-claimed EWC trophy. The team selected the remains of domestic opponents NRG Esports and G2 Esports, and chose Nongshim RedForce’s – their semi-final matchup – as the final key.
Since entering Valorant in 2020, the team finally brought founder Nadeshot their first international S-tier trophy, ending the organization’s six-year drought.
Nongshim RedForce take down BBL for third place
Before the Best-of-five grand final between the two North American teams, Nongshim RedForce took on BBL Esports in the third-place decider, where the two squads played for $80,000 in prize money and 200 Club Championship Points.
The series was hard-fought, but Nongshim RedForce were able to secure a 2-0 victory after close 13-10 and 13-11 maps. The series MVP was the team’s primary duelist Dambi, who dropped a nuclear 1.40 average rating on Neon across both maps.
With these results, the top four at the Valorant Esports World Cup were:
| Placement | Team | Prize Money | EWC Club Championship Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 100 Thieves | $600,000 | 1,000 |
| 2nd | NRG Esports | $340,000 | 750 |
| 3rd | Nongshim RedForce | $220,000 | 500 |
| 4th | BBL Esports | $140,000 | 300 |
That concludes the end of Valorant at the Esports World Cup. However, there are still weeks of action, so make sure you know how to watch the Esports World Cup’s remaining games.
Owen Harsono
Owen lives for competition, spending most of his gaming hours on Dota 2, CS2, and Valorant. A regular on the SEA Dota 2 leaderboards, he combines his first-hand experience with a deep passion for esports journalism, following the professional scenes of all three esports betting titles religiously. When he’s not writing, he’s most probably betting on esports and watching the latest events.
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