Back in December, Blizzard announced the return and fifth instalment of the Overwatch World Cup will be taking place for the first time since 2019.

The United States, as the current champion, and South Korea, with three previous wins, aim to defend their title in the competition, but the release of Overwatch 2 introduces new teams to the field. Is there a possibility of a new champion being crowned this year?

The 2023 Overwatch World Cup will consist of three conferences, each with two groups of six participating countries and regions. These teams were chosen based on Overwatch 2 player population data. The competition committee applications will open in February, and each country and region will host World Cup Trials over three weekends in the same month. The competition committees will then organize additional team tryouts in March, and finalize a team of seven players in April.

Additionally, there will be a wild card challenge that will award four additional spots for teams to compete, with details to be published in February. The teams will then compete in their groups in June, to earn one of 16 spots at the LAN finals, scheduled to take place in the fall of 2023.

A team from China will receive a direct invitation to the Group Stage, as they have always performed well in the past, including two second-place finishes in the last two Overwatch World Cups. However, there will be no World Cup Trials in China, and the team will not compete in the Online Qualifiers, the tryouts process in China will differ from that of other countries/regions. More information on the process will be shared directly with players in the China region.

Below you will find a breakdown of the 36 teams and six groups for the online qualifiers:

Teams

Americas Conference (AMER)

• AMER A
  • Canada
  • Costa Rica
  • Guatemala
  • Mexico
  • Puerto Rico
  • United States
• AMER B
  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • Peru

Europe and Middle East Conference (EMEC)

• EMEC A
  • Belgium
  • France
  • Great Britain
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Spain
• EMEC B
  • Germany
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Sweden
  • Turkey

Asia-Pacific Conference (APAC)

• APAC A
  • Chinese Taipei
  • Hong Kong
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Philippines
  • South Korea
• APAC B
  • Australia
  • India
  • Malaysia
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • Thailand

Given that a team from China will already have a secured spot in the group stage, the remaining 15 spots will be competed for by teams during the online qualifiers.

Competition Committees

Each team will be represented by a competition committee that consists of the following three roles:

• General Manager: responsible for team operations and communications with Blizzard
• Coach: responsible for leading tryouts, player selection, and all competitive aspects of the team
• Social Lead: responsible for the team’s social media, content, and engagement initiatives

Think you got what it takes to lead your homeland’s competition committee? Here’s how you can get involved:

STEP 1

• Create a video that describes who you are, why you want to be a competition committee member, and what unique advantages you can bring to the space

STEP 2

• Fill out a web form (name, email, Discord, Battle.net, etc.)
• Written statements for Step 1 will be accepted here in-lieu of a video

STEP 3

• If selected, Blizzard will reach out via email or Discord with next steps

For more information and FAQs, feel free to go ahead and check out Blizzard’s official blog post regarding the qualifiers.