Man City Esports qualify for first-ever Rocket League Major

28 April 2026

From May 20th to May 24th, 2026, all eyes in the worldwide Rocket League community will be on the west of Paris. On the town of Nanterre, to be exact, where the best teams and players in the world will gather to compete at the 2026 Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) – Paris Major. And thanks to Manchester City Esports, UK esports will be represented during the tournament as well. By finishing fifth in the Europe rankings of the RCLS Paris Major, the organisation earned the right to compete in Paris towards the end of May.

Swiss Stage success

As part of the UK esports scene, Man City Esports competes in the European qualifiers for Rocket League Championship Series events. In this case, the British organisation competed in Open 6 with the goal of retaining their then-current fifth place spot in the European rankings, which equals qualification for the 2026 Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) – Paris Major. After back-to-back top four finishes in Europe Opens 4 and 5, they managed to finish third in Group A of the Open 6 Swiss Stage, allowing them to progress to the Group Stage.

Group Stage disappointment

With the likes of Team Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas and practically every other big Rocket League name present, Man City Esports still felt confident in their own abilities. This proved more than deserved in the Group A Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, where the UK organisation faced WIP Esports from France. The Brits got off to a flying start by winning the first two games (4 – 2 on Mannfield Night and 2 – 1 on Forbidden Temple. WIP fought back though, making it 2 – 2 by beating Man City 1 – 2 on DFH Stadium and 2 – 6 on Utopia Coliseum Dusk, which meant game five was going to be the decider. It ended up being prey for Man City Esports, who won the fifth and final game on Champions Field by 2 to 0.
Their hard-fought victory against WIP Esports saw Man City advance to the Upper Bracket Semifinals, where NOVO Esports from Italy was waiting. The Italians proved to be a step too far for man City, as they immediately won the first two games (4 – 1 on Mannfield Night, 3 – 0 on Forbidden Temple). City then came back into the match, winning both DFH Stadium and Utopia Coliseum Dusk 1 – 2. Champions Field proved to be too much as NOVO took it home and clinched direct qualification for the 2026 RCLS Paris Major.

Fifth place in Europe

Despite their Upper Bracket loss against NOVO followed by another defeat at the hands of Italian organisation GHT, Man City Esports managed to qualify for the upcoming RCLS Paris Major. That is because of the course of the qualifiers, the team collected enough points for a fifth-place finish in the RLCS 2026 – Paris Major Rankings. A total of 22 points proved to be more than sufficient to keep Kaydop Corp (6th, 16 points) under them. As a result, Man City Esports will soon appear at the first RLCS Major in the history of the organisation.