Source: EF

The Esports Foundation (EF) announced that approximately 700 coaches have been appointed to represent National Team Partners across more than 100 countries and regions worldwide for the Esports Nations Cup 2026 (ENC 2026).

ENC 2026 is a global national-team-based esports tournament scheduled to be held for the first time in Riyadh from November 2 to 29. With this announcement, the player selection process has officially begun, with final rosters expected to be confirmed by May 10. Coaches will be responsible for scouting players, establishing team strategies, and building competitive lineups.

The newly appointed coaches come from over 90 major esports organizations worldwide. The full list of national team coaches is available on the official ENC website.

In South Korea, coaching staffs for various titles have been finalized, and national team formation is underway. Veteran coach Kang 'Hirai' Dong-hoon will lead the League of Legends team. For mobile titles, Im 'Panda' Chang-rok will coach Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, while Jang 'YK' Hyung-jun will oversee the Honor of Kings team.

Coaching appointments have also been confirmed for FPS and battle royale titles. Kim 'LashK' Dong-jun has been named coach for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, and Lee 'Nova' Si-heon will lead the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege team. Additionally, Kim 'SilKanon' Gyeong-min will serve as coach for the VALORANT team. The finalization of these coaching staffs across diverse titles once again highlights the depth of talent within the South Korean esports ecosystem.

The participation of female coaches is also expanding. Camila 'Mia' Lopez from Chile, who has experience as a manager, analyst, and coach in PUBG MOBILE, will lead her team, alongside Poland's Nicole 'Kehayoyo' Kehayova.

Additionally, Germany's Sabrina 'SYA' Starke will lead the 'Honor of Kings' team, while Australia's Angela 'Kaylio' Sun Zhou will manage the team for 'Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.' In the 'Valorant' category, Moldova's Felicia 'Felly' Sersac and Pakistan's Saiyada 'Skel' Saman are among those set to lead teams from emerging esports markets.

Ralf Reichert, CEO of the EF, stated, "The Esports Nations Cup is being built in phases, and the appointment of national team coaches is the next critical step in that structure. If the team makes esports more intuitively understandable, the coach plays the role of instilling trust in both players and fans." He added, "Coaches provide identity, direction, and standards for each team. With over 700 coaches appointed across more than 100 National Team Partners, we are shaping the concept of nation-based competition into something people can immediately understand and trust. This is a structured system ready to function, providing a foundation for competition on the world stage."

Coaches for remaining countries and regions, including those without current National Team Partners, will be announced at a later date. As national team formation intensifies, the player selection process is underway; for individual titles and certain team-based games, participants will be selected through open qualifiers. Detailed schedules will be released in the coming weeks.

ENC is a structured tournament designed to integrate national-team-based competition into the global esports calendar. It aims to strengthen the connection between regional esports ecosystems and the international competitive stage by enabling each country and region to organize national teams and build talent development systems to compete on the world stage.