How did the opening ceremony of the Esports World Cup 2026 go?
Daria Ushakova
The 2026 Esports World Cup kicked off recently—we’ve rounded up the key details from the tournament’s opening ceremony for you.
Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and chess player Magnus Carlsen have once again been named global ambassadors for the Esports World Cup. They have represented the tournament before and will continue their partnership with the championship in 2026.
Broadcasts of the 2026 Esports World Cup will be available on a variety of international and regional platforms: DAZN, FOX Sports, France Télévisions, TV5 Monde, L’Équipe, Eurosport, HBO Max, CBS Sports Network, and Thmanyah. In China, Kuaishou, Bilibili, Huya, Douyu, and Douyin, as well as Tencent Video and MangoTV, will be responsible for the broadcasts. Coverage of the tournament will be available in more than 40 languages in total.
Aya Nakamura, Theodora, DJ Snake, and Mosimann performed at the opening ceremony. In addition to musical performances, viewers were treated to a show featuring augmented reality and visual effects.
Marina Ferrari, France’s Minister of Sports, Youth, and Civic Life, commented on the opening of the championship as follows:
It is a tremendous honor for France to host the first international Esports World Cup in Paris. I highly appreciate the Esports Foundation’s commitment to this project and the quality of the collaboration established with French authorities during the event’s preparation. This partnership, based on trust, has allowed us to jointly tackle the challenge of hosting the Esports World Cup in Paris. Building on the legacy of the major sporting events that have taken place in our country in recent years, France once again reaffirms its ability to host major international competitions and demonstrate its high level of expertise. This World Cup is a testament to our long-term strategy for the development of French esports. This fall, we will present a national strategy for the development of esports for 2026–2030, which will help structure the industry, support the emergence of new talent, and strengthen the international standing of our ecosystem.
In May of this year, it was announced that the 2026 Esports World Cup will be held outside of Saudi Arabia for the first time—in France. The tournament will feature a $75,000,000 prize pool across 24 esports disciplines.
Photo: Esports World Cup 2026.
Daria Ushakova
