Call of Duty playoff bracket set at Esports World Cup

Gentle Mates, Movistar KOI, Team Heretics and OpTic Gaming claimed the final four playoff spots on Friday at the $1.8 million Call of Duty competition at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris.

They each won a lower-bracket semifinal match to join FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, 100 Thieves and Team Falcons in the single-elimination stage that begins on Saturday.

Sixteen teams began the group stage on Wednesday, playing best-of-five matches. The playoff matches will be best-of-seven until Sunday's best-of-nine grand final. The champion will win $600,000 plus 1,000 World Cup points.

On Friday in Group A, Gentle Mates earned a 3-1 victory over The Pit and Movistar KOI knocked out Cloud9 by the same score. Both bouts in Group B were 3-0 sweeps, with Team Heretics defeating Team WaR and OpTic Gaming eliminating Project Notorious.

Playoff action begins with four quarterfinal matches on Saturday:

--G2 Esports vs. Team Heretics

--Team Falcons vs. Gentle Mates

--100 Thieves vs. Movistar KOI

--FaZe Clan vs. OpTic Gaming

Call of Duty BO7 Esports World Cup prize pool

1. $600,000; 1,000 World Cup points

2. $320,000; 750 points

3. $210,000; 500 points

4. $130,000; 300 points

5-8. $75,000; 200 points

9-12. $40,000 -- The Pit, Cloud9, Team WaR, Project Notorious

13-16. $20,000 -- Carolina Royal Ravens, OMiT, Boston Breach, Vancouver Surge

--Field Level Media