Cristiano Ronaldo joins star-studded finale as AG.AL crowned champions
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron attended the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris on Sunday, joining a high-profile turnout that included football star Cristiano Ronaldo and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
According to The National, the Chinese club AG.AL was crowned the tournament’s Club Champion after topping the overall standings with 5,300 points, securing a $7 million grand prize. Macron presented the winning club with the trophy at the ceremony, held as the competition concluded its first edition staged outside Saudi Arabia.
Launched in Riyadh in 2024, the Esports World Cup is widely regarded as the largest esports event in the world by prize money and the number of titles represented. The 2026 edition was moved to Paris amid regional instability, running for seven weeks from July 6 to August 23. It brought together more than 2,000 professional players from over 200 clubs and around 100 countries, competing across 24 games and 25 tournaments for a total prize pool exceeding $75 million, among the largest in esports history.
The Paris edition recorded significant growth across several measures, including a 94 percent rise in ticket sales. More than 850 million viewers followed the tournament across digital platforms, generating over 440 million hours watched through broadcasts produced in dozens of languages, figures organizers pointed to as evidence that the event could succeed well beyond its Saudi home.
Cristiano Ronaldo headlines a star-studded closing ceremony
Ronaldo, who plays for Saudi club Al Nassr and has served as a prominent figurehead for the event since its launch, appeared on stage with the tournament trophy during the ceremony. His involvement, alongside the attendance of two heads of state and the FIFA president, underlined the scale of the finale and the profile the competition has attained in just three years.
The evening also drew several senior French officials, reflecting the diplomatic weight attached to the occasion. The Esports Foundation, the nonprofit funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund that runs the tournament, framed the Paris staging as the start of a new international chapter for the event.
Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi soft power on display
The Saudi Press Agency said the Crown Prince’s attendance reflected his continued support for the gaming and esports sector, while underscoring the depth of Saudi-French relations. The tournament forms part of Saudi Arabia’s wider strategy to position itself as a global gaming and esports hub, an ambition Prince Mohammed has championed since formally establishing the competition in 2023.
Macron, for his part, described France as proud to have hosted the event, calling it the product of a shared ambition with Saudi Arabia to grow esports and bring the two countries closer together. Ahead of the tournament, the Esports Foundation and the French sports ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding underpinning the collaboration.
While the Paris edition was widely presented as a success, organizers confirmed that the Esports World Cup will return to Riyadh for its 2027 edition, reaffirming the Saudi capital’s place at the center of the project even as the competition expands its global footprint.
