Esports Nations Cup postponed, impact on North American players
7 September 2026
For our British sister website, we recently wrote an article about the postponement of the Esports Nations Cup (ENC). The participating federations and organizations from the UK were some of the first to come up with official statements regarding the unfortunate postponement of the event, but they are naturally not the only ones affected by the decision. Organizations and players from all over the international esports world were preparing to compete in the first edition of the Esports Nations Cup, which has now been postponed to 2027 due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. This included plenty of players from North America, including an American League of Legends player in red-hot form and a surprise call-up for Team Canada.
Esports Nations Cup postponed
The inaugural edition of the Esports Nations Cup was announced back in 2025, during the New Global Sports Conference in Saudi Arabia. At the time, the event was set to take place in November 2026 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), but this date has now been moved up. The reason for the postponement is the ongoing tension in the Middle East as a result of the political and military conflict between Israel, the United States and Iran.
“The decision to postpone the Esports Nations Cup was not taken lightly,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports Foundation, “The response from National Team Partners, publishers, players and communities around the world has shown us how much potential this competition has. We owe them an inaugural ENC delivered under the right conditions and at the level this idea deserves. Hosting the tournament in Riyadh next year does not change our commitment.
No hectic wedding
For at least one member of the professional League of Legends community, the postponement of the 2026 Esports Nations Cup has a silver lining as well. While most players will have been disappointed to hear the news, Choi “huhi” Jae-hyun could see an upside to the postponement as well. After all, the in-form support from Sentinels and Team USA is getting married later this year and the Esports Nations Cup in November was creating a bit of a hectic schedule for him. The plan was basically to come back from Riyadh, meet his parents-in-law for the first time and get married straightaway. He now has a bit more time to organize the occasion and enjoy it to the fullest.
“It was going to be a really crazy year for me”, huhi recently said in an interview, “In some way, it works out. I’m trying to be calm, trying to help my wife, trying to figure out the wedding plan, and all those things. I feel like now, I can actually help her. I’m glad in some way, but I definitely want to be able to play in the ENC, if I get another chance next year.”
Team Canada surprise
The postponement of the 2026 ENC was big news for Frankie “Zamudo” Lin as well, though with considerably less of a silver lining. He was a surprise call-up as top laner for Team Canada and looking forward to showing his skills at the very highest level of international esports.
“I was kind of scared that something might happen when I went to the event”, “Zamudo” said recently, “Glad it’s postponed, but it definitely sucks that I can’t play at the end of the year. I thought it would be really cool to play in such a big competition.”