Team USA defeats China and South Korea to win Overwatch World Cup 2019

Joe O'Brien

The Overwatch World Cup is returning to BlizzCon for 2019, and will once again see national teams compete to be crowned World Champions.

UPDATE: November 2 at 11:50 PM EST

Team USA has captured Gold at the 2019 Overwatch World Cup after defeating South Korea in the semi-finals and then China in the Grand Finals.

The championship-winning team was led by Overwatch League MVP Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won who once again emerged as a major threat on the Doomfist and was named the MVP of the tournament.

Both China and The United States finished first in their groups during the first stage of the tournament. Notably, the three-time champions South Korea lost their first-ever Overwatch World Cup match against Team France in the group stage. The Koreans would avenge their loss by beating the Frenchmen in the bronze medal game.

The original story follows


BlizzCon isn’t just a place for Blizzard to announce their upcoming projects and new content, it also plays host to various tournaments in celebration of the esports side of the developer’s various titles.

The Overwatch League might be the pinnacle of Overwatch competition, but the Overwatch World Cup offers a slightly different flavor – like the World Cups for traditional sports like soccer, the OWWC features national squads, which means a chance for line-ups to form featuring players who otherwise wouldn’t compete together over the rest of the year.

This year’s event is taking place from October 31 to November 2. Here’s everything you need to know to keep up with the Overwatch World Cup this year.

Format and Teams

Unlike in previous years, which had group stages taking place all around the world in the run-up to the tournament proper, this year the entirety of the World Cup will take place at BlizzCon itself.

Under the new format, the top-five ranked teams based on previous years’ results have received direct invites to main event group stage, while the rest of the teams will compete in a preliminary round for the remaining five group stage spots.

The preliminary round will be a single-elimination bracket, also seeded based on previous results. This stage of the competition is open to all nations that wish to field a team, however Blizzard is only covering full travel and accommodation expenses for the top 10 ranked teams in the competition, while others must fund the trip themselves.

South Korea has won the Overwatch World Cup three years in a row.

Group stage teams

The following nations have direct invites to the main event group stage:

Nation DPS Tank Support
Canada Agilities
Surefour
Mangachu
NotE
xQc
Crimzo
Bani
China JinMu
Eileen
Elsa
guxue
Kyo
Yveltal
France SoOn
Leaf
Hqrdest
Tek36
Chubz
FDGoD
HyP
South Korea Carpe
Architect
Haksal
ChoiHyoBin
Mano
iDK
Bdosin
United States Corey
KSF
sinatraa
SPACE
super
moth
Rawkus

Top-ranked preliminary teams

The following nations are receiving funding for the preliminary round:

Nation DPS Tank Support
Australia ieatuup
ckm
Punk
Trill
Tongue
Unter
Face
Finland rCk
Ricky
Zappis
LhCloudy
Shaz
Masaa
Zuppeh
Russia NLaaeR
ShaDowBurn
Txao
Tonic
Engh
MayN
Rubikon
Sweden snillo
Rat
Erki
ELLIVOTE
LullSiSH
Gustav
Epzz
United Kingdom KSP
Kyb
Smex
Fusions
Boombox
FunnyAstro
Kruise

Other preliminary teams

It has not yet been confirmed how many other teams will be attending for the preliminary round. The following teams have yet to announce that they are withdrawing from the competition, however:

Nation DPS Tank Support
Austria DeCeiVeR
Fav
Mac
Minimi
CheesyJuices
Saltmines
Thoec17
Brazil Liko
Murizzz
Ludwig
Honorato
Txozin
Ole
Alemao
Chile Debout
lowlife
Glitch
robtoxx
Aramis
Balti
eFextoide
Colombia Belphegore
Dulla
Circci
Harzeck
GTA
bokk6
HellFull
Denmark Shax
Fischer
Naga
Molf1g
Henningsen
Scaler
Kellex
Germany Engineer
Phi
Rady
Moose
Had
illbethebest
rephid
Hong Kong Mikouw
MoonBlue
Moowe
Step
AmCrazy
ManGoJai
YiWind
Iceland Hafficool
Sindri
SnorrLaxZ
Finnsi
Steelcrusher
futhark
KristoferNumi
India kcot
Cruzi
Archangel
DjDestiny
NGHTMRE2k
PrimalMage
Soulhunter
Ireland Buckle
FlexG
Wheat
Liam
PureIrish
M3WTS
Scally202
Italy HearThBeat
LilYung
DragonEddy
Asso
Adnar
Frayu
joYnt
Japan hoshimi
ta1yo
ten
kenmohororo
SamuraiD
HaKu
Xeraphy
Latvia Madpi
Marx
Teeja
Hapkotuk
trustemix
BuhenValds
Xapee
Mexico sh0ckwave
Sam
Cl4ptr4p
Hikary
Nomy
Mago
Reptile
Netherlands A10
Jona
Vizility
Brussen
daans
Trispear
CrusaDe
New Zealand Colourhex
August
Signed
Joker
plihs
Junglejazz
Truth
Norway Fawad
ONIGOD
TracK
Tricky
Decod
HenKii
MeeemYO
Paraguay Years1
Ganjamain
ZIO
Arturok
Kalokalo
Kitty
Sagua
Phillipines Billy
Redux
XNS
Fascinate
Grandeesauto
Jorun
Rebirth
Portugal Kouhen
Horthic
Greyy
atf
Lemonada
Phatt
Jaka
Saudi Arabia KsaarPlayz
Light
simpleFnk
BeCanBauer
KSAA
Boostio
Ryanchu
Singapore Azalea
Bubblekitty
yuris
Xenofly
Sachokk
Jervyz
Akame
South Africa Twenty
Likealuke
ShapeShifter
Ashbro
Squishy
Visions
Spain T3lle
neptuNo
Ejin
Jotum
Solmyr
Gavi
HarryHook
Taiwan Baconjack
ShaiuLin
WON
Craz1S
ATing
inin77
CQB
Thailand oPuTo
mush2oom
Mickie
BOOMBURAPA
Teetawat
Pannys
Tae

Streams

There will be three English language main streams for the 2019 Overwatch World Cup on Twitch, YouTube, and MLG

Twitch

Watch live video from OverwatchLeague on www.twitch.tv

Every match will be viewable on one of the four match streams on Twitch too, so you don’t need to worry if your nation isn’t playing on the main stream.

Match Stream 1 (Play Overwatch)

Watch live video from PlayOverwatch on www.twitch.tv

Match Stream 2 (Overwatch Contenders)

Watch live video from OverwatchContenders on www.twitch.tv

Match Stream 3 (OWWC 1)

Watch live video from owwc1 on www.twitch.tv

Match Stream 4 (OWWC 2)

Watch live video from owwc2 on www.twitch.tv

A variety of other language streams will be available. You can find out more information about those on the Liquipedia page.

Schedule

Thursday, October 31

The preliminary stages of the Overwatch World Cup will take place before BlizzCon officially opens on Friday, November 1. The preliminary round is scheduled to kick off at 9:30 AM PDT / 12:30 PM EDT / 4:30 PM GMT, and run until 10:30 PM PDT / 1:30 AM EDT / 5:30 AM GMT.

The first match-ups will determine the five additional teams who make it through to the group stages.

Bracket A

Stage Match
Quarterfinal 1 New Zealand 3 – 0 Austria
Semifinal 1 Australia 3 – 2 New Zealand
Semifinal 2 Denmark 3 – 1 Chinese Taipei
Final Australia 0 – 3 Denmark

Bracket B

Stage Match
Quarterfinal 1 Iceland 3 – 0 Ireland
Semifinal 1 United Kingdom 3 – 0 Iceland
Semifinal 2 Norway 3 – 0 Spain
Final United Kingdom 3 – 0 Norway

Bracket C

Stage Match
Quarterfinal 1 Colombia 3 – 1 Philippines
Quarterfinal 2 Italy 3 – 0 India
Semifinal 1 Sweden 3 – 0 Colombia
Semifinal 2 Japan 2 – 3 Italy
Final Sweden 3 – 1 Italy

Bracket D

Stage Match
Quarterfinal 1 Latvia 0 – 3 Mexico
Quarterfinal 2 Hong Kong 3 – 0 Paraguay
Semifinal 1 Russia 3 – 0 Mexico
Semifinal 2 Germany 3 – 0 Hong Kong
Final Russia 3 – 0 Germany

Bracket E

Stage Match
Quarterfinal 1 Singapore 3 – 0 South Africa
Quarterfinal 2 Portugal 1 – 3 Saudi Arabia
Semifinal 1 Finland 3 – 0 Singapore
Semifinal 2 Netherlands 3 – 1 Saudi Arabia
Final Finland 0 – 3 Netherlands

Friday, November 1

The World Cup group stages will take place on October 1, and consist of two groups of five teams, each of which will play a round-robin to determine the top six teams. 

The main event group stage is scheduled to kick off at 12:00 PM PDT / 15:00 PM EDT / 19:00 PM GMT, and run until 18:00 PM PDT / 21:00 PM EDT / 01:00 AM GMT.

Group A

Stage Match
Round 1 South Korea 3-0 United Kingdom
Round 1 France 0-3 United States
Round 2 United States 3-0 Sweden
Round 2 South Korea 1-2 France
Round 3 France 2-1 United Kingdom
Round 3 South Korea 3-0 Sweden
Round 4 France 2-1 Sweden
Round 4 United States 3-0 United Kingdom
Round 5 South Korea 0-3 United States
Round 5 United Kingdom 1-2 Sweden

Group B

Stage Match
Round 1 Canada 0-3 Russia
Round 1 China 3-0 Denmark
Round 2 China 2-1 Netherlands
Round 2 Denmark 2-1 Russia
Round 3 China 3-0 Russia
Round 3 Canada 1-2 Netherlands
Round 4 Denmark 2-1 Netherlands
Round 4 Canada 0-3 China
Round 5 Canada 0-3 Denmark
Round 5 Russia 1-2 Netherlands

Saturday, November 2

The playoffs of the World Cup will take place on Saturday, with the following schedule for the single elimination bracket.

Round Match PDT EDT GMT
Quarterfinal 1 Denmark 0-3 South Korea 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 5:30 PM
Quarterfinal 2 France 3-1 Netherlands 12:15 PM 3:15 PM 7:15 PM
Semifinal 1 USA 3-1  South Korea 2 PM 5 PM 9 PM
Semifinal 2 China 3-1 France 3:45 PM 6:45 PM 10:45 PM
Third-place playoff South Korea 3-0 vs France 5:30 PM 8:30 PM 12:30 AM
Grand Final USA 3-0 China 7:15 PM 10:15 PM 2:15 AM