Falcons defeat FURIA to win Thunderpick World Championship 2026
Team Falcons beat defending champions FURIA in the grand final to claim the Thunderpick World Championship 2026 title in Malta.
The Thunderpick World Championship 2026 concluded with a grand final on October 18 after a double-elimination group stage and single-elimination playoffs. Eight teams competed for a $1 million prize pool in Malta from October 14-18, with the trophy awarded after a best-of-five grand final on Sunday, October 18. The event was held at BLAST Arena Studios in Attard.
Matches were streamed on Thunderpick’s official YouTube and Twitch channels. The $1,000,000 prize pool was split evenly between players and their organizations.
Group stage results and advancement
Group A saw 9z, Falcons, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Aurora compete, while Group B featured Legacy, PARIVISION, FURIA, and BetBoom. The top two from each group advanced to the single-elimination playoffs. The group stage used a GSL format with best-of-three matches and ran through October 16.
Opening results on Wednesday, October 14, set the tone. 9z beat Aurora 2-0, Falcons defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0, Legacy swept PARIVISION, and FURIA took a 2-0 win over BetBoom.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 9z | 2-0 | Aurora |
| Falcons | 2-0 | Ninjas in Pyjamas |
| Legacy | 2-0 | PARIVISION |
| FURIA | 2-0 | BetBoom |
The playoff bracket began on October 17. Semi-finals were best-of-three on Saturday at 16:00 and 19:00 CEST, followed by a third-place match on Sunday at 13:30 CEST and the grand final at 17:00 CEST.
Team qualifications and roster changes
Seven teams received invitations based on Valve Regional Standings (VRS) rankings, while one qualified through a global qualifier. Virtus.pro could not attend because of visa issues, with Ninjas in Pyjamas taking their place. The replacement occurred due to visa issues for AquaRS and health problems for F0R3VER.
Ninjas in Pyjamas had added Krimbo as in-game leader and adamb. They entered the tournament having won two tier-two events in a row and were simultaneously playing the Stake Pulse Beat III event in Stockholm, where they reached the playoffs after wins over Betclic and Inner Circle.
Notable team performances and context
Falcons entered the tournament after strong showings. They beat FURIA 3-0 in the Cologne Major final in June. Recent results included a 5th-8th finish at the Esports World Cup, 3rd-4th at BLAST Open Fall, and 5th-8th at ESL Pro League Season 24, where Spirit beat them 2-0 in the quarter-finals. Falcons had also extended m0NESY’s contract until 2030.
FURIA were the defending champions, having won the 2025 edition by beating NAVI in the final. They reached the Pro League playoffs in Katowice but were knocked out by MOUZ in the quarter-finals. arT had missed that Pro League while recovering from meningitis.
Other teams brought their own momentum. Aurora finished second at StarSeries Fall and third at Pro League since the start of September, sweeping Spirit in the Pro League third-place match. Legacy, who knocked Falcons out of the Esports World Cup in August, played with bobz as a stand-in in Poland and exited in the group stage there. They won FISSURE Playground #3 in September, beating G2 3-0 in the final.
Individual performances elsewhere drew notice. m0NESY had a 1.28 rating at ESL Pro League Season 24. karrigan finished with a 0.69 rating at the same event, the third-lowest among 80 players. karrigan would have become the first player to win the Thunderpick World Championship twice if he had won, having claimed the inaugural title in 2023 with FaZe.
The tournament's outcome impacts Valve’s Regional Standings ahead of the PGL Major Singapore invite cutoff on November 2.
