The VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 is finally upon us!
24 February 2026
Attention VALORANT players and fans, because the moment is finally here: the first VALORANT Masters of 2026 is near. From February 28th to March 15th, the VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 will be taking place at the Espacio Riesco, a prime location for events in Santiago de Chile, capital of Chile. It will be the first-ever VALORANT Masters to be held in the Latin American country and one of the biggest international esports events to have ever been held there as well.
VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026
Very soon, the twelve best VALORANT teams in the world will be traveling down to Chile, where they will be competing for a $ 1 million prize pool and, of course, the first VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) trophy of the year. The eventual winners will take home no less than $ 350.000 in prize money. On top of that, the six best teams by the end of the event will also gain VCT Championship Points that contribute towards qualification for the VALORANT Champions Shanghai event, which is set to start towards the end of September 2026.
Qualified teams
As we wrote before, twelve teams have qualified for the VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026. Each of the community’s major regions has sent in three representatives:
VCT Americas
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VCT China
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VCT EMEA
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VCT Pacific
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Opening matches
While the start of the VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 is still a few days away, the opening day matchups have already been revealed. The number one seed from every region progresses immediately to the Playoff Stage. The remaining eight teams start in the Swiss Stage, where they will need to book two victories in order to qualify for the Playoffs.
The first round of matches has already been drawn, as a random draw was held in the aftermath of VCT Kickoffs across all regions. This has provided the following set of opening matches for the VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026:
Gentle Mates vs. EDward Gaming
T1 vs. Team Liquid
G2 Esports vs. Paper Rex
XLG Esports vs. NRG Esports
$ 1 million prize pool
The annual VALORANT Masters are all considered major international esports events and not in the last place thanks to their considerable prize pools. For the upcoming VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026, for example, publisher (and organizer) Riot Games has reserved no less than one million American dollars in prize money. This will allow every competing team to take home a share of the prize pool, with $ 350.000 reserved for the eventual champions. The runner-up takes $ 200.000, while the number three completes the podium for $ 125.000. With $ 15.000 each, the numbers 11 and 12 (the two last places) still share in the prize money.
The VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 will be a live event, but for those who cannot attend in person, Riot Games is making free streams available via the official VCT Twitch and YouTube channels.