Macron awards Esports World Cup trophy in finale attended by Saudi crown prince

PARIS: AG.AL was crowned the Esports World Cup 2026 Club champion and collected the tournament’s $7 million grand prize on Sunday, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron attending the closing ceremony in Paris.

Macron presented the trophy to AG.AL after the club finished first in the overall standings with 5,300 points, according to a press release issued by the organizers of the Esports World Cup.

The Saudi crown prince, who is also prime minister, attended the ceremony alongside the French president as the competition concluded its first edition outside Saudi Arabia.

The Paris tournament, held from July 6 to Aug. 23, brought together more than 2,000 professional players representing 200 clubs from 100 countries. They competed across 25 tournaments featuring some of the world’s most popular esports titles for a total prize pool exceeding $75 million, which organizers described as the largest in esports history.

The event also drew more than 850 million viewers across digital platforms worldwide, according to the organizers, generating more than 440 million hours of watch time through content distributed in 47 languages.

Ticket sales for esports competitions rose 94 percent compared with the previous edition, the organizers said.

The attendance of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman underscored Saudi Arabia’s continuing push to develop gaming and esports as part of its broader efforts to expand the Kingdom’s sports, entertainment and digital economy sectors.

“The continued support of HRH the Crown Prince has been instrumental in building the Esports World Cup into the global platform it is today,” Esports World Cup Foundation CEO Ralf Reichert said in the press release.

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