It's only been seven days since Blizzard kicked off their World Cup World Tour in Shanghai. Last Sunday, Team China and Team France secured their spots, now eight more hopeful nations are set to fight over the next two tickets to BlizzCon.
With Shanghai now 5000 miles in the rear-view mirror, The Star Event Centre in Sydney, Australia will play host to some of the biggest names in Overwatch over the next three days of Group Stage action.
We have collated all the vital information here in one mighty list of lists. This is your trusty companion to comfort you on the late nights and early mornings of viewing that lay ahead. Be sure to check out our event page to dive in to the detail.
Schedule
Friday 21st July
- 20:00 EDT / 02:00 CEST / 10:00 AEST - Group C: Australia vs. Italy
- 21:30 EDT / 03:30 CEST / 11:30 AEST - Group C: Sweden vs. Portugal
- 23:00 EDT / 05:00 CEST / 13:00 AEST - Group D: Finland vs. Vietnam
- 00:30 EDT / 06:30 CEST / 14:30 AEST - Group D: Japan vs. Spain
Saturday 22nd July
- 20:00 EDT / 02:00 CEST / 10:00 AEST - Group C: Sweden vs. Italy
- 21:30 EDT / 03:30 CEST / 11:30 AEST - Group C: Australia vs. Portugal
- 23:00 EDT / 05:00 CEST / 13:00 AEST - Group D: Finland vs. Spain
- 00:30 EDT / 06:30 CEST / 14:30 AEST - Group D: Japan vs. Vietnam
Sunday 23rd July
- 20:00 EDT / 02:00 CEST / 10:00 AEST - Group C: Sweden vs. Australia
- 21:30 EDT / 03:30 CEST / 11:30 AEST - Group C: Italy vs. Portugal
- 23:00 EDT / 05:00 CEST / 13:00 AEST - Group D: Finland vs. Japan
- 00:30 EDT / 06:30 CEST / 14:30 AEST - Group D: Spain vs. Vietnam
- 02:00 EDT / 08:00 CEST / 16:00 AEST - Playoffs: Group C Winner vs. Group D Runner-up
- 03:30 EDT / 09:30 CEST / 17:30 AEST - Playoffs: Group D Winner vs. Group C Runner-up
Format
All matches in the round robin Group Stage are played as 4 map sets featuring a Hybrid, Control, Assault and Escort map.
Teams are ranked on individual map wins and losses, not series results. Head-to-head results and tiebreakers will be used to resolve any potential tie scenarios.
The top two teams from each group advance to the best-of-five playoff matches. Win your playoff match and you have booked your ticket to compete in BlizzCon's World Cup extravaganza.
Maps
- Hybrid: King's Row, Numbani and Hollywood
- Control: Ilios, Lijiang Tower and Nepal
- Assault: Horizon Lunar Colony and Volskaya Industries
- Escort: Dorado and Route 66
- Tiebreaker: Oasis (best-of-three)
Broadcast
Talent
- Soe "Soembie" Gschwind Penski
- Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez
- Malik Forté
- Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles
- Erik "DoA"Lonnquist
- Andrew "ZP" Rush
- Mitch "Uber" Leslie
- James "jamerson" Lee
- Matt "flame" Rodriguez
Streams
- twitch.tv/playoverwatch
- twitch.tv/blizzardzhtw
- twitch.tv/playoverwatch_KR
- twitch.tv/overwatchFR
- twitch.tv/overwatchRU
- twitch.tv/overwatchDE
- twitch.tv/playoverwatchJP
- twitch.tv/overwatchTH
- twitch.tv/SnasGG
- twitch.tv/highstyled
- twitch.tv/hypedgg
Teams
Below you'll find our team cheatsheet with groups, rosters and profiles. You might also want to check out Blizzard's official event preview.
Group C
Sweden
- Kevyn "TviQ" Lindström (DPS)
- Johan "CWoosH" Klingestedt (DPS)
- Tim "Manneten" Byhlund (Flex)
- Jonathan "Reinforce" Larsson (Tank)
- Sebastian "Zebbosai" Olsson (Support)
- Sebastian "chipshajen" Widlund (Support)
Team Sweden profile "Sweden tailor their approach to avoid looking misfitted"
Australia
- Jason "ieatuup" Ho (DPS)
- Ajay "Aetar" Umasankar (DPS)
- Marcus "Kiki" Jacob (Flex)
- Ashley "Trill" Powell (Tank)
- Jordan "Gnb" Graham (Support)
- Andrew "Rqt" Haws (Support)
Team Australia profile "Team Australia: The Boys are Back"
Italy
- Edoardo "carnifex" Badolato (DPS)
- Andrea "link" Zamperetti (Flex/DPS)
- Mattia "fighteR" Cassai (Flex)
- Enrico "Cerys" Valzania (Tank)
- Federico "Nisa" Portolani (Support)
- Francesco "Bimbz" De Luca (Support)
Team Italy profile "The Italian Job: A World Cup heist"
Portugal
- Henrique "Horthic" Damião (DPS)
- Nuno "kiler4fun" Ferreira (Flex)
- Eduardo "Addicted" Torres (Flex)
- Tiago "mowzassa" Rodrigues (Tank)
- Alexandre "Phatt" Silva (Support)
- Luís "Greyy" Perestrelo (Support)
Team Portugal profile "Portugal hopes to make waves in the land down under"
Group D
Finland
- Timo "Taimou" Kettunen (DPS)
- Joonas "zappis" Alakurtti (Flex)
- Jiri "LiNkzr" Masalin (Flex)
- Joona "fragi" Laine (Tank)
- Anti "kyynel" Kinnunen (Support)
- Aleksi "Zuppehw Kuntsi (Support)
Team Finland profile "Team Finland packs plenty of pyjamas"
Japan
- "Aktm" (DPS)
- "ta1yo" (DPS)
- "deartn" (Tank)
- "Jasper" (Flex)
- "yoz" (Support)
- "CLAIRE" (Support)
Team Japan profile "Japan: The mysterious Land of the Rising Sun"
Spain
- Jose "BromaS" Antonio Ramos Gonzalez (DPS)
- Jonathan "HarryHook" Tejedor (DPS)
- Joshua "ToxikeN" Campos (Flex)
- Sergi "Winghaven" Torras Aragonés (Tank)
- Daniel "dhaK" Martinez Paz (Support)
- Alberto "neptuNo" González (Support)
- Gabriel "longás" Longás (Coach, Manager, and Substitute)
Team Spain profile "Spain speed boosts into Sydney"
Vietnam
- Hai “MreA" Nguyen Ngoc (DPS)
- Khoa "KJerry" Dam Anh (Tank)
- Tu "Funky" Nguyen Dac (Support)
- Hieu "Mrhip" Nguyen Manh (DPS)
- Toan "Maverick" Mai Trong (Tank)
- Son "Simple" Vuong Vu Thien (Support)
Team Vietnam profile "Good Morning, Vietnam: CyzoneVN are the World Cup's early risers"