Your guide to VALORANT Champions Shanghai 2026

The crowning event of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) is kicking off this week, on 24 September, to be exact. We are, of course, talking about VALORANT Champions Shanghai 2026 taking place in China. Here’s what you must know so you don’t miss any of the action.

VALORANT Champions Shanghai 2026 details

First up, fans can mark their calendars from 24 September to 18 October 2026, which is when VALORANT Champions Shanghai 2026 runs.

To be a bit more specific, the double-elimination format GSL-Style group stage (four groups of four teams each) runs from 24 September to 4 October 2026. The Group Stage takes place at the Jing’an Sports Center venue in China. All matches are BO3, and the top two from each group move on to the Playoffs Stage.

After a little break, the top eight teams will fight through a double-elimination Playoffs Stage bracket from 7 to 18 October. The Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final are BO5, while the rest of the matches are BO3. Once the top four are decided, the action moves to the incredible Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.

The teams are competing for their share of the $2,250,000 prize pool. At the current Dollar to Rand exchange rate, that’s approximately R36.5 million.

You can watch all the action unfold live via the VALORANT Twitch or VCT YouTube channels.

Teams & Groups at VALORANT Champions Shanghai 2026

A total of 16 teams are competing, which include the top four from each of the four primary VCT regions. In case you want to catch up on what went down at the regional Stage 2 events, then we’ve got you covered with our results reports on EMEA Stage 2, Pacific Stage 2, China Stage 2, and Americas Stage 2 to catch up on what went down.

Check out the 16 teams competing at VALORANT Champions Shanghai in the neat little table below, which also includes their opening matchups plus which group they’ve been drawn into.

Header image via Riot Games.