JiJieHao secured the final spot in the Esports World Cup 2026 main event on August 9, beating HOTU 2-1 in the open qualifier decider. The win completed the 32-team field for the tournament’s main stage.
HOTU started the series strongly on Mirage, taking the map 13-7. JiJieHao answered with a 13-9 win on Cache before the match moved to Dust2, where the international lineup held on for a 13-11 finish.
Bebu “Bibu” Aadil played a major role in the deciding map, posting a 1.41 rating as JiJieHao closed out the upset. HOTU entered the match ranked 28 places higher than JiJieHao in the VRS, making the result one of the qualifier’s biggest surprises.
JiJieHao survived a difficult qualifier run
The team had already needed a three-map decider against Sangal to escape the group stage. Its playoff run then gathered momentum through three consecutive 2-1 victories.
DENDELE fell first in the opening playoff upset, followed by Phantom, where Hussein “m1N1” Hijazi led the server. JiJieHao then finished the job against HOTU, earning its place alongside the other qualifying teams: 100 Thieves, BIG, and K27.
With the open qualifier complete, JiJieHao will now join the 28 directly invited teams in the EWC main event. The qualification also gives Dionis “sinnopsyy” Budeci and his teammates a chance to test themselves against the full tournament field after entering the final series as underdogs.
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