The first full week of the 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC) crowned three champions in Paris, while prediction market traders spread more than $558,000 in reported volume across the Polymarket and Kalshi events.
Key Takeaways
100 Thieves beat NRG 3-1 as the EWC awarded Valorant’s winner $600,000.Polymarket’s top 20 esports markets held $402,600 in volume and $1.39 million in liquidity.Kalshi priced T1 at 88% and Hanwha Life at 89% before their coming EWC matches.Official EWC listings show $600,000 for the Valorant winner and $250,000 for the Fatal Fury champion. The broader competition carries a reported $75 million prize pool, including $30 million for its cross-game Club Championship.
Those results opened a schedule running from July 6 through Aug. 23. Dota 2 remains active, while League of Legends, Free Fire, and the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational enter the Week 2 program.
Polymarket’s 20 Leading Match MarketsKalshi’s new-market slate listed Donstu Esports 52%-48% over ex-MANA eSports; Team Orange Gaming 57%-43% over ROSSMANN Centaurs; Brute and GenOne at 43%-43%; Entropy and HOTU at 44%-44%; QUAZAR and Bushido Wildcats at 43%-43%; E WIE EINFACH E-SPORTS 71%-29% over Eintracht Frankfurt; LPH Gaming 75%-25% over ENJOY; Berlin International Gaming 86%-14% over VfB eSports; Fnatic 52%-48% over Geekay; Zeu5 Esports 66%-34% over 3v Team; and Lyon Gaming Academy 60%-40% over Kits Esports.
The remainder of the newly listed markets favored SDM Tigres 86%-14% over Polar Squad; Fuego 83%-17% over NCG; SPARTA 66%-34% over ENCE; LEO and Inner Circle Prospect at 47%-47%; All Gamers 74%-26% over Wolves; Misa Esports 63%-37% over eSuba; GenOne and Honvéd at 46%-46%; Virtus.pro 67%-34% over Rune Eaters; and Team Liquid 64%-36% over Xtreme Gaming.
The rest showed XLG Gaming 84%-16% over TEC; Patins da Ferrari 79%-21% over METANOIA WOLVES; Vici Gaming 53%-47% over PlayTime; LUA Gaming 56%-41% over FALKE; ODDIK 71%-29% over paiN Academy; Los Heretics 78%-21% over UCAM Esports Club; Vasco Esports 75%-25% over MAGICOS; Docta Esports 65%-34% over ZEN Esports; Volticons 85%-15% over Seven Dark; 9z Globant 79%-19% over Malvinas Gaming; Lavked 59%-42% over Just_Players; and ONSIDE GAMING 82%-18% over ARETE.
Kalshi also listed FunPlus Phoenix and JD Gaming at 50%-50%; Gen.G 84%-16% over Karmine Corp; NIP 61%-38% over K27; T1 88%-12% over GAM Esports; Bilibili Gaming 81%-19% over Movistar KOI; ENJOY and The Last Resort at 46%-46%; G2 Esports 75%-26% over FURIA Esports; AG.AL 53%-44% over Dplus KIA; EDward Gaming 73%-30% over TYLOO; Hanwha Life Esports 89%-11% over MIBR.LOS; JD Gaming 54%-46% over LYON; Heroic 58%-42% over 3DMAX; Procyon Gaming 75%-22% over Red Feet; and FUT Esports 57%-43% over Natus Vincere.
The platforms did not always agree. Polymarket favored Wolves over All Gamers, while Kalshi leaned All Gamers. Both backed LUA over FALKE, placed Team Liquid at 64%, and assigned XLG almost identical probabilities, showing where independent trading pools converged before play.
