On Sunday August 23 in Paris, it came down to a racing game that had never been played at the Esports World Cup before.
After seven weeks, 25 tournaments and a $75 million prize pool, the 2026 Club Championship was decided in the Trackmania final — where Gwendal "Gwen" Duparc needed a top-three finish to hand AG.AL the title, and won the whole thing instead. The $130,000 tournament cheque came with a far bigger one attached: $7 million, and the crown Team Falcons had worn since the very first edition.
The door opens, and Gwen walks through it
Falcons went into the Trackmania playoffs on top of the standings, two-time defending champions with the maths in their favour. Then Carl-Antoni "Carl Jr." Cloutier was eliminated in the quarterfinals, and the arithmetic flipped in a matter of minutes.
