Several esports entities in the UK have joined forces to represent Great Britain at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup.
London-headquartered esports organization Fnatic has teamed up with The English Football Association (FA) via England Gaming, the British Esports Federation, Esports Wales, Scottish Esports and the UK Esports Team Committee (UKETC) to form a collective National Team Partner.
Jeff Simpkins, who has led organizations including Resolve and the England Gaming team at the FIFAe World Cup, has been appointed National Team Manager for Great Britain. He will select coaches for each game title and will lean on industry veterans such as Scan Computers’ Michael ‘ODEE’ O’Dell (who founded Team Dignitas), NIP Group COO Grant Rousseau, and The FA Esports and Gaming Lead Saahib Reehal for support.
The announcement was made in a video including UK esports players Jack ‘ApparentlyJack’ Benton (Rocket League player for Geekay Esports), Jack ‘Doki’ Robertson (Rainbow Six: Siege player for G2 Esports) and more.
The news comes after a bid was submitted to represent Great Britain at the ENC earlier this year, with an open call for team manager applications.
Jeff Simpkins, Great Britain National Team Manager, added: “Representing your country in any capacity is an incredible experience, but to do so at this scale, across 16 titles, is what makes this a really unique competition.
“It’s a responsibility that I take very seriously and I’m looking forward to building competitive teams alongside a group of very strong coaches, while collectively managing the demands that come with representing Great Britain on the international stage.”
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ENC announces 100+ partner nations
The Esports Nations Cup announced more than 100 partner nations today, including USA Esports, whose teams will be competing at the ENC this year.
Its first event is set to debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 02-29, 2026. Future iterations of the tournament are set to adopt a rotating city model.
It will feature 16 game titles including:
- Apex Legends
- Chess
- Counter-Strike 2
- Dota 2
- FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves
- FC 26
- Honor of Kings
- League of Legends
- Mobile Legends Bang Bang
- PUBG Battlegrounds
- PUBG Mobile
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Rocket League
- Trackmania
- VALORANT
- Final Title TBC
Other nations involved include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Peru, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam and more. The full list can be found on the ENC website.
The Esports Foundation (EF), creators of the ENC and the Esports World Cup, and funded by the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), says it received more than 630 applications from 150 countries and territories to take part in the nation-based tournament.
The ENC is backed by a three-part funding commitment totaling $45m, with $20m in prize money paid directly to players and coaches, $5m in club incentives for esports clubs that release and enable their professional players to participate in ENC, and an additional $20m through the previously announced ENC Development Fund. This will support Official National Team Partners with logistics, travel, programme operations and marketing.
Disclaimer: The author of this piece, Dominic Sacco, helps the British Esports Federation on a freelance basis, and helped to write the press release about this news.