The First Teams Have Qualified for the 2018 Overwatch World Cup Playoffs

The first two nations have qualified for the playoffs of the 2018 Overwatch World Cup.

The group stages of the World Cup have begun, with the first taking place in Incheon, South Korea. Over the course of four group stages, each taking place in a different country, the 32 World Cup teams will be narrowed down to just eight for the final playoffs.

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Eight teams travelled to Incheon to battle for just two places in the World Cup playoffs, which will take place at Blizzcon on November 2-3. At the end of the round-robin, South Korea and Finland had booked their spots at the playoffs.

Both teams were the favorites to make it out of the group stage, which also featured Russia, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

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South Korea are the reigning Overwatch World Champions, having won the event in both 2016 and 2017. The roster they fielded for the group stage featured primarily members of the New York Excelsior, and was able to end the weekend undefeated.

Finland did give them an incredibly close game, however, pushing them all the way to a fifth map in what was undoubtedly the highlight series of the stage. Finland is another team touted for a potential deep run at the World Cup playoffs, as one of only a few nations aside from South Korea that is able to pull from a deep roster of Overwatch League players.

Incheon Qualifier final placements:

1. South Korea
2. Finland
3. Russia
4. Japan
5. Taiwan
6. Hong Kong