Horaa Esports Secure Direct Grand Final Spot at PUBG Mobile World Cup

Nepal's Horaa Esports have locked in direct qualification for the PUBG Mobile World Cup Grand Final at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, finishing fourth in Group B with 98 points across 12 matches. The result, per The Rising Nepal, guarantees the Nepali organization at least $57,500 in prize money and signals a step-change from last year's survival-stage route — a clean value-add for sponsors tracking the South Asian scene.

The qualification math

The squad, captained by Supreme 'JiGGL3' Adhikari, posted 59 points on opening day before grinding out 39 more across six matches on day two, finishing with 37 placement points and 61 eliminations. That fourth-place finish slots Horaa behind group leaders Team Vitality (148 points), Alpha7 Esports (108), and GodLike Esports (105), with S2G Esports (97) snagging the fifth and final direct-qualification berth. One Chicken Dinner across the run — not headline material, but the placement math did the heavy lifting.

"I am very happy. Last time we qualified via the Survival Stage, but this time we made it directly from the group stage," Adhikari said. "It got a little tough towards the end, but we will put in the hard work for the final."

Group A locks in, Survival Stage set

The top five from each group are now finalized. Group A's direct qualifiers are 4Thrive Esports (107 points), Orangutan (91), Vampire Esports (90), Team Flash (89), and Nigma Galaxy (88). Sixteen teams finishing between sixth and 13th across both groups will fight it out in the Survival Stage on 11–12 August, with the top six punching the remaining Grand Final tickets. The bottom three from each group are eliminated.

Teammate Aayush 'NoFear' Lama echoed his captain's read on the group's intensity. "I really enjoyed the intensity in the final moments. We intend to carry this same momentum into the final."

The next domino

The 16-team Grand Final runs 14–16 August with a multi-million-dollar prize pool. Champions walk away with $500,000, runners-up collect $250,000, and third place banks $150,000. Even the 16th-placed side takes home $25,000 — a meaningful floor for organizations balancing development budgets against sponsor obligations. For Horaa, the comparative value of a direct ticket versus another Survival Stage run cannot be overstated; scrim time and preparation runway shifts everything when the bracket is this deep.

The next domino to watch is the Survival Stage, and then the Grand Final where the brackets settle. S2G Esports have already taken the throne, closing the PMWC with 154 points under the SMASH ruleset and the top share of the $3,025,000 prize pool, according to early reporting.