2026 MLBB Mid Season Cup
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Dates | 1 July–1 August 2026 |
| Administrators | Moonton Qiddiya |
| Format | Double-elimination GSL (Group Stage) Single-elimination (Knockout Stage) |
| Teams | 16 (main stage) 10 (wild card) |
| Purse | US$3,000,000 |
The 2026 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup will be the ninth iteration for the multiplayer online battle arena game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the third edition under the name "Mid Season Cup".
The ninth iteration will also become the third-consecutive edition that it will be a part of the internationally sanctioned Esports World Cup tournament as one of its main esports titles. Moreover, it will be the first edition of the tournament to be held in Europe, specifically Paris, France.[1]
Defending champions Team Liquid PH will be vying for a repeat in this tournament after their early upper bracket – and eventual championship – qualification in MPL Philippines Season 17.[2]
Format
[edit]MSC 2026 will feature 25 teams, an increase from 23 in the previous edition however, participating teams in the respective stages have largely remained the same – 16 teams participating in groups and 10 teams participating in the wild card, an increase from 8 in 2025.
Wild card stage
[edit]Similarly to the previous edition, the wildcard stage will occur first before the group stage. The particular wild-card format is still to be announced however, single round-robin group stages will be held prior to the wild card gauntlet to determine the teams and the eventual wild card champions participating in the crossover match for qualification.
Group stage
[edit]The group stage will follow thereafter with sixteen teams qualifying for the double-elimination GSL format. Similarly to MSC 2025, two teams per group will qualify for the Knockout Stage: one upper bracket team and one lower bracket team. All matches for the group stage brackets will be Best-of-3s.
Particular game and format changes are still to be announced.
Knockout stage
[edit]The precipice of the tournament is the single-elimination knockout stage which was introduced during the 2024 edition of the tournament. All games apart from the Grand Finals are Best-of-5s while the Grand Finals will be a Best-of-7. Similar to the 2025 edition, the battle-for-third will also return.
Qualified teams
[edit]Fifteen teams qualified outright for the group stage with teams from the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional Leagues of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia having two direct qualifiers to the group stage,[3] and one qualifiers each – all of which are champions – from the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional Leagues of Cambodia, Singapore, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the MTC Turkiyë Championship in Turkiyë, the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Continental Championship (MCC) champion from the Commonwealth of Independent States or the EECA, and the inaugural tournaments of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Championship Tour for East Asia in Shanghai and the Americas, and the inaugural Moba Legends Masters Series in India.[4]
Ten teams across the newly established Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Championship Tour groups will qualify for wild cards with two representatives coming from the SEA region – primarily from Thailand and Mekong – three from the EMEA region – particularly from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Turkiyë, and Europe – one from the EECA region – particularly the runner-up of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Continental Championship (MCC) – three from the EA region – particularly second through fourth place of the first leg of the Shanghai Tour – and the runner-up from the AMER region.
Several changes from the previous season includes the following:
- MCT East Asia will be given one main stage slot and three wild card slots, replacing the four combined slots held by national qualifiers in China, Japan, and Mongolia.
- MCT Americas will be given one main stage slot and one wild card slot, replacing the three combined slots held by the North America Challenger Tournament (NACT) and MPL Latin America. This also means that the Americas region has one less slot.
- The MLMS is given one main stage slot.
- MSL Thailand is given one wild card slot. Thai teams can still qualify via MCC Mekong as an alternate pathway.
- The MEC is given one wild card slot.
- The Vietnam MLBB Championship (VMC) no longer has a slot, but remains a qualifier for MCC Mekong, retaining the pathway for Vietnamese teams.
| Defending MSC champions | Former MSC champions | Best Finish – Knockout Stage | Best Finish – Group Stage | Best Finish – Wild Card Stage | First Time Qualifiers |
| Group | Region | League | Path | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting from group stage | ||||
| SEA |  Indonesia
|
MPL ID | Season 17 champions | Team Vitality[a]
|
| Season 17 runners-up | Onic Esports
| |||
 Philippines
|
MPL PH | Season 17 champions | Team Liquid PH
| |
| Season 17 runners-up | Team Falcons PH[b]
| |||
 Malaysia
|
MPL MY | Season 17 champions | Selangor Red Giants
| |
| Season 17 runners-up | Team Vamos
| |||
 Singapore
|
MPL SG | Season 11 champions | IGNITE Gaming
| |
 Cambodia
|
MPL KH | Season 10 champions | PRO Esports
| |
 Myanmar
|
MSL MM | Season 3 champions | Yangon Galacticos
| |
| EMEA |  MENA
|
MPL MENA | Season 9 champions |  Geekay Esports
|
 Turkey
|
MTC | Season 7 champions | Aurora Gaming[c]
| |
| EECA |  CIS[d]
|
MCC | Season 7 champions |  Team Spirit
|
| EA | East Asia | MCT EA | Season 1 champions |  Guangzhou Gaming
|
| AMER | Americas | MCT AMER | Season 1 champions |  Entity7
|
| NR |  India
|
MLMS | Season 1 champions | True Rippers
|
| Starting from wild card stage | ||||
| SEA |  Thailand
|
MSL-TH | Season 1 champions | King of Gamers Club
|
 Southeast Asia
|
MCCM | Season 7 champions |  Niightmare Esports[e]
| |
| EMEA | MENA
|
MPL MENA | Season 9 runners-up | Team Falcons
|
| Turkey
|
MTC | Season 7 runners-up | FUT Esports
| |
 Europe
|
MEC | Season 2 champions |  VSG
| |
| EECA | CIS[d]
|
MCC | Season 7 runners-up | Verso Time
|
| EA | East Asia | MCT EA | Season 1 runners-up |  The MongolZ
|
| Season 1 third place | The Huns Esports
| |||
| Season 1 fourth place |  Sunset Ravens
| |||
| AMER | Americas | MCT AMER | Season 1 runners-up |  Alpha7 North
|
Final Standings
[edit]| Region/Team | Wild Card Stage | R | Group Stage | R | Knockout Stage | F | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS | UBF | LBS | LBF | CM | UBS | UBF | LBS | LBF | QF | SF | GF | |||||
| SEA | PRO Esports
|
Qualified for the Group Stage | –– | –– | ||||||||||||
| Team Vitality
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| Onic Esports
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| Selangor Red Giants
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| Team Vamos
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| Niightmare Esports
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| Yangon Galacticos
|
Qualified for the Group Stage | –– | –– | |||||||||||||
| Team Liquid PH
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| Team Falcons PH
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| IGNITE Gaming
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| King Gamers Club
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| AMER | Entity7
|
Qualified for the Group Stage | –– | –– | ||||||||||||
| Alpha7 North
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| EECA | Team Spirit
|
Qualified for the Group Stage | –– | –– | ||||||||||||
| Verso Time
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| VSG
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| EMEA | Geekay Esports
|
Qualified for the Group Stage | –– | –– | ||||||||||||
| Team Falcons
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| Aurora Gaming
|
Qualified for the Group Stage | –– | –– | |||||||||||||
| FUT Esports
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| EA | Guangzhou Gaming
|
Qualified for the Group Stage | –– | –– | ||||||||||||
| The MongolZ
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| The Huns Esports
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| Sunset Ravens
|
–– | –– | ||||||||||||||
| NR | True Rippers
|
Qualified for the Group Stage | –– | –– | ||||||||||||
2026 MLBB Women's Invitational
[edit]| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Dates | 14 July–18 July 2026 |
| Administrators | Moonton Qiddiya |
| Format | Double-Elimination GSL (Group Stage) Single-Elimination (Knockout stage) |
| Venue | Paris Expo Porte de Versailles |
| Teams | 16 |
| Purse | US$500,000 |
The 2026 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational (stylized and referred to as MWI 2026) will be the fifth iteration of the tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. It is the female edition of the world championship which will be held from the 14th to the 18th of July.[5]
It will be the third iteration of the tournament under the umbrella of the Esports World Cup in Paris, France. Alongside its male counterpart for MSC 2026, MWI 2026 will be held first and making it the only game discipline to have two tournaments under the EWC Tournament.
Defending champions Team Vitality qualified for the tournament and are eyeing to retain their title.[6]
Qualification
[edit]Defending champions Team Vitality were invited to the tournament as the dominant team from Indonesia. The team – formerly known as Bigetron Era – had won three out of the last four iterations of the tournament with the lone exemption of MWI 2024 when Smart Omega Empress defeated them 3-0.[7]
Otherwise, all other regions have direct qualifiers for the winners of their regional tournaments to the GSL Group Stage. A total of sixteen teams will qualify for the GSL Group Stage. As of June 10, 2026, each region has qualified one team to the tournament including: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, Cambodia, the Middle East and Northern Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Europe-as-a-whole, Turkiyë, Mongolia, North America, Africa-as-a-whole, South America, Myanmar, and China. The Mekong region has yet to complete its tournament.[5]
The following table shows the qualified teams and their respective qualification paths:
| Defending MSC champions | Former MSC champions | Best Finish – Knockout Stage | Best Finish – Group Stage | Best Finish – Wild Card Stage | First Time Qualifiers |
| Group | Region | League | Path | Team | Short Name |
Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEA | Indonesia
|
Battle of Gamehers | Season 2 champion | Team Vitality
|
VIT | TBA |
| Season 2 runner-up | Falcons Vega
|
FLCN | ||||
| Philippines
|
Athena Cup | Season 2 champion | Natus Vincere PH
|
NAVI[f] | ||
| Malaysia
|
MLBB Ladies International Invitational | Season 1 champion | Team Rey Young
|
TRY | ||
| Cambodia
|
Queen Legends | Season 3 champion | Galaxy Phoenix
|
GPX | ||
| Southeast Asia
|
MWI Mekong Qualifier 2026 | Qualifier's champion |  Twisted Minds VN
|
TWIS | ||
| Myanmar
|
MWI Myanmar Qualifier 2026 | Qualifier's champion | Falcon Daises
|
FALC | ||
| EMEA |  Africa
|
MWI Africa Qualifier 2026 | Qualifier's champion |  Falcons Vega MENA
|
FLCN | |
| Middle East and Northern Africa |
MWI MENA Qualifier 2026 | Qualifier's champion | Virtus.pro MENA
|
VP | ||
| EECA | Eastern Europe and Central Asia |
Lady MVP | Season 10 champion | Geltek Cyber Team
|
GCT | |
| Europe
|
Valkyrie Clash | Split 1 champion |  Geekay Esports FE
|
GEFE | ||
| Turkiyë
|
MWI Turkiyë Qualifier 2026 | Qualifier's champion | FUT Esports FE
|
FUT | ||
| EA | Mongolia
|
ESN National Championship | Season 1 champion | Aurora Storm
|
RORA | |
| China
|
MWI China Qualifier 2026 | Qualifier's champion | SAETA
|
SAE | ||
| AMER | 
|
MWI North America Qualifier 2026 | Qualifier's champion | Gen.G Esports
|
GENG[g] | |
 South America
|
MWI South America Qualifier 2026 | Qualifier's champion |  MIBR.LOS[h]
|
MIBR |
Venue
[edit]Originally planned to be hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 20, it was announced that the EWC will be moving its tournament for the first time since inception from Riyadh to Paris.[8] With this move, both MWI and MSC 2026 became the first tournament in the competitive year to be hosted in a venue outside of Asia and a major tournament sanctioned by Moonton to be hosted outside of the Asian continent. Like MSC 2026, MWI will be hosted at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Versailles, Paris, France.
| Paris, France |
|---|
| Group Stage and Knockout Stage |
| Paris Expo Porte de Versailles |
| Capacity: TBD |
 |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Officially known as Bigetron by Vitality, the team will compete as Team Vitality in MSC due to Bigetron being a team bought out by the French Organization in 2025.
- ^ Team Falcons PH qualifies for the first time as the organization Team Falcons and not of a partnership based qualification like Falcons AP Bren in 2024. Denoting the "PH" on the suffix for the team due to its sister Team qualifying in another bracket.
- ^ Aurora Turkiyë will compete as Aurora Gaming because they are the only team under the Aurora brand to qualify for the tournament.
- ^ a b Moonton uses the term "Eastern Europe and Central Asia" in place of "Commonwealth of Independent States" when referring to the region as a whole.
- ^ Niightmare Esports qualified for MSC 2021 but lost in the play-in tournament. For technicality purposes and the implementation of stages for this tournament, this team's best performance is part of the group stage as Wild Card Stage play-ins were not implemented during this time.
- ^ Competed as Smart Omega Empress in MWI 2024.
- ^ The roster consists of the MWI 2025 Finalists Gaimin Gladiators without Nicole "Nicholette" Huang and Jey "RYLAI" Enriquez who joined RRQ Shira.
- ^ Combined name of MIBR and Los Grandes due to Esports World Cup Club Championship rules as both share the same ownership; Los Grandes won the South America Qualifier.
See also
[edit]- 2026 Esports World Cup
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational
References
[edit]- ^ "Esports World Cup 2026 to be hosted in Paris, France". esportsworldcup.com. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- ^ Gametube (2026-06-01). "MPL Philippines Season 17: Winners, qualified teams for MSC 2026, and summary". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
- ^ "Record-breaking 16 regions to vie for Esports World Cup 2025 x Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup 2025-Develop games and fun for players all over the world". en.moonton.com. Archived from the original on 2026-02-27. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- ^ Nicholson, Jonno (2025-07-08). "MLBB Mid-Season Cup 2025: Teams, Format, Schedule". Esports Insider. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- ^ a b "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | Esports World Cup". www.esportsworldcup.com. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- ^ "History-making Team Vitality reclaim crown in MLBB Women's Invitational at 2025 Esports World Cup; Mid Season Cup resumes 23 July!-Develop games and fun for players all over the world". en.moonton.com. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- ^ "MWI 2024: Smart Omega Empress are crowned as the queens | GosuGamers". www.gosugamers.net. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- ^ "Esports World Cup 2026 to be hosted in Paris, France". www.esportsworldcup.com. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
External Links
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