UPDATE: April 25, 2017, 5:25 p.m. EDT Blizzard has since updated its list of qualifying countries. Some of the countries below have moved places on the list, been added, or removed.
After weeks of global competition, the 32 countries participating in the 2017 Overwatch World Cup have been decided.
This year, every country in the world had an opportunity to qualify for the second Overwatch World Cup — the skill rating of the top 100 competitive players in each country was averaged to give every country a score, and the top 32 in the world made it through to the next phase.
Last year, Blizzard selected 60 countries from around the world to compete, so many countries involved in the Overwatch community never had a shot at making it.
Here are the qualifying countries in this year’s Overwatch World Cup and where they ranked:
China
South Korea
United States
Sweden
Finland
United Kingdom
Canada
France
Denmark
Russia
Germany
Japan
Australia
Chinese Taipei
Netherlands
Hong Kong
Norway
Poland
Brazil
Italy
Spain
Israel
Singapore
Thailand
Argentina
Turkey
Belgium
Vietnam
Portugal
New Zealand
Austria
Romania
The countries at the top of the list are pretty predictable considering most of those regions have produced some of the top professional Overwatch players in the world. The no. 2 country, South Korea, has the strongest pro Overwatch scene out of any country and last year’s World Cup squad tore through the playoffs and finals to win the championship without losing a single map.
Behind South Korea, the first World Cup saw Russia taking home second, Sweden third and Finland fourth.
Almost all of last year’s top-16 teams are coming back for a shot at redemption except Chile and Taiwan. Chile finished in 39th place and Taiwan did not break the top 50 in this year’s community-driven qualification.
Now that the countries have been decided for the 2017 Overwatch World Cup, players will be able to vote for which pre-selected Overwatch experts will assemble each country’s team. These experts will include analysts, coaches, statisticians, and more.
All 32 teams will compete in a group stage this summer for a chance to make it to the World Cup playoffs at BlizzCon in November.
If your country didn’t make it to the World Cup this year, start buckling down now and improve that skill rating for the next qualification.
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