DZ 2:1 WEIBO 
CAGV 1:2 TL 
FURIA 2:1 FNC 
FLCN 0:2 SCRT 
VP 1:2 WEIBO 
DarkZero Esports and Weibo Gaming will face off today at 4 PM CEST for a chance to reach the semifinals of the Rainbow Six Siege Esports World Cup 2026.
The winner of the series will almost double their share of the USD$2M prize pool, going from an already confirmed USD$60,000 to USD$115,000. Reaching the semifinals grants teams with the chance to fight for even a larger share of the prize pool and a spot at the Six Invitational 2027.
Today's action will start with the clash between DarkZero Esports and Weibo Gaming. The winner of the clash will become the first semifinalist of the Rainbow Six Siege Esports World Cup 2026.
Head-to-head record
Both teams have only faced off once in the past. The match happened in last year's Esports World Cup and the series ended in a 2-0 win for Weibo Gaming. Since then, DarkZero Esports rebuilt its roster, picking up Spacestation's former core and only keeping Nick "njr" Rapier in the team.
Before Year 10, when the Americans played for the astronauts and the Asians played for Bleed Esports, both cores met thrice. The three games ended in defeat for the Asian players, losing their matches in Atlanta, Manchester, and Sao Paulo.
The path to today's match
DarkZero Esports had the easiest path to the Rainbow Six Siege Esports World Cup 2026 quarterfinals. The purple roster kicked off its run in the competition with a 7-3 victory against Europe and MENA's current tenth seed Team Secret. One day later, the roster clinched its quarterfinal spot in the event with a 2-1 victory against CAG by VARREL.
Weibo Gaming's run has been a bit more difficult, at least if we look at the caliber of their opponents. The Asian super roster first faced off against South America's Kickoff champions and Stage 1 grand finalists FURIA. The match ended in a 6-8 defeat for Weibo Gaming. Then, the APAC champions beat the BLAST R6 Major Salt Lake City quarterfinalists ENTERPRISE Esports before knocking out Europe and MENA's second seed Virtus.pro following a heated 2-1 series.
Player stats @ EWC 2026
Here's a look at the stats of both teams ahead of today's clash:
DarkZero Esports
DarkZero Esports is the only team in the tournament alongside FaZe Clan to have all of its players with positive ratings.
The team's two best players have been Jack "J9O" Burkard and Ethan "Nuers" James, with SiegeGG ratings of 1.15 and 1.14, respectively.
All of the players in the team have been extremely rock-solid. Their KOSTs are all between 66 and 68 except for Alec "Fultz" Fultz's, who has a KOST of 77. Their survival stats are also very even. All in all, their stats being so close to each other makes it clear that there's no stand out player in the team; they don't rely on individual performances or specific bright moments from a player in the team.
Weibo Gaming
Weibo Gaming's best player in the tournament has been Aldi "Hovenherst" Firmansyah with a SiegeGG rating of 1.14.
However, it's worth noting Taylor "Terd" Ching's efforts too, as he averages a SiegeGG rating of 1.08 despite scoring a SiegeGG rating of 0.58 against FURIA. The Kiwi was Weibo Gaming's best player against ENTERPRISE Esports and Virtus.pro with SiegeGG ratings of 1.49 and 1.07, respectively. In fact, Terd has got the best entry balance of the players left in the competition, with twelve open kills and only three open deaths.
Map pool and how the series could be shaped
Reading the Weibo Gaming's map pool may be tricky as the team completely dominates the Asia sub-reagion. However, we can learn a lot about their map preferences by looking at their international clashes.
For instance, although they have played Fortress twice internationally in Year 11, Weibo Gaming banned it three times in Salt Lake City and the Esports World Cup 2026 each. The two times they played it on the international stage was against LOS and against ENTERPRISE Esports in Salt Lake City, which ended in 7-1 and 2-7 scores.
Meanwhile, since the start of Year 11, Fortress has been DarkZero Esports' most banned map. The Americans have banned it 27 times, including all of the games played in Salt Lake City. In Paris, they banned it against Team Secret but not against CAG by VARREL, as it was the Japanese's second ban.
On paper, it feels unlikely that either DarkZero Esports or Weibo Gaming will end up picking Fortress; however, the Asians could try to surprise the Americans. It could also be the decider game of the series.
A map that feels obvious that will end up being banned is Bank; the Americans have won six of their seven last games there and it's Weibo Gaming's most banned map.
Considering that Nighthaven Labs, Fortress, and Bank have high chances of being banned, we think maps that have higher chances of featuring in today's game are Chalet, which is very favorable for both teams, Clubhouse, or Kafe Dostoyevsky. Border, Consulate, and Lair have lower chances, as the first two are two of DarkZero Esports' three most banned maps in Year 11, whilst Lair has been banned by Weibo Gaming in two of their three Esports World Cup 2026 games. It's also one of DarkZero's best maps, with six wins in their last seven games there.
For more information about Rainbow Six Siege and its esports scene, make sure to check out Siege.GG.