Seemingly getting stronger as the tournament wore on, Team Falcons swept their way through the semifinals and grand final Sunday to win the Rocket League event at the Esports World Cup on Sunday in Paris.
The 1,000 points that came with the win vaulted the Falcons to the top of the Esports World Cup club championship standings, with their 4,400 points 300 better than AG.AL International.
After taking care of Karmine Corp 4-0 in the semifinals, Falcons did the same to Spacestation Gaming in the grand final in a matchup of two teams who had yet to lose in the event to that point.
The Esports World Cup is a collection of 25 events across 24 game titles, with two events for Mobile Legends. Each event awards money and club points, with the winner of the club championship pocketing $7 million.
A total of more than $75 million is awarded throughout the World Cup, with $30 million doled out based on club championship standings and more than $45 million awarded in the game-specific tournaments.
The World Cup concludes on Aug. 23.
The Rocket League event had a purse of $1 million, with $400,000 going to the winner. Play began Wednesday with three days of group play involving 16 teams. The top four teams from each of the eight-team groups advanced to the single-elimination playoffs that took place Saturday and Sunday.
After sweeping their way through Group B play, Falcons beat Twisted Minds 4-2 in the quarterfinals on Saturday, advancing them to the final day of the event.
They opened Sunday with a 4-0 sweep of Karmine Corp — who advanced out of Group B despite losing in the upper bracket semifinals. Falcons won 6-3 on Beckwith Park to open the match, then took Forbidden Temple after leading 1-0 when time expired. A 1-0 win on DFH Stadium (10th Anniversary) was followed by a 3-2 victory on Utopia Coliseum to complete the sweep.
Yazid Abdullah “Kiileerrz” Bakhashwin and Saleh Abdullah “Rw9” Bakhashwin, both of Saudi Arabia, led Falcons with four goals apiece. Rw9 added four assists. Tristan “Atow.” Soyez of Belgium tied for the team lead in goals and assists (two each) and led all Karmine players with seven saves.
In the other semi, Spacestation went the full seven games against Ninjas in Pyjamas eStar, winning 4-0 on Parc de Paris in the winner-take-all game. Brazilian Joao “diaz” Henrique scored nearly half of Spacestation’s 18 total goals with eight. He also led the winners with 12 saves. Joris “Joruez” Robben of the Netherlands led NIP with six goals and 14 saves.
In the grand final, Falcons needed overtime to beat Spacestation 3-2 on Beckwith Park, then won 3-1 on Forbidden Temple. A pair of three-goal wins followed — 4-1 on DFH Stadium (10th Anniversary) and 3-0 on Utopia Coliseum — to win the title.
Samy “dralii ” Hajji of Morocco and Canada led all players with seven goals in the win, while tournament MVP Rw9 had six assists and eight saves to go with one goal. diaz scored three of Spacestation’s four goals.
NIP beat Karmine 3-0 in the third-place match.
Rocket League World Cup 2026 standings (prize money, EWC club points)
1. Team Falcons — $400,000, 1,000
2. Spacestation Gaming — $180,000, 750
3. Ninjas in Pyjamas eStar — $100,000, 500
4. Karmine Corp — $60,000, 300
5-8. Team Vitality; Twisted Minds; Shopify Rebellion; Gentle Mates — $35,000, 200
9-12. TSM, NRG, MIBR.LOS, R8 Esports — $20,000, 0
13-16. FUT Esports, FURIA, Wildcard, Five Fears — $10,000, 0
–Field Level Media
