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Overwatch World Cup recap: Underdogs go big, quarterfinals are set

By Christine Wang Dickson

Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment /
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The Overwatch World Cup capped group play with a crazy slate of matches on Halloween to decide who plays at BlizzCon in the quarterfinals and who goes home.

Underdogs had their day during the third and final round of group matches in the Overwatch World Cup.

Going into Monday, almost all teams who would be moving onto the final tournament at BlizzCon were already decided. Sweden, Spain, USA, Russia, Finland and South Korea were all guaranteed spots after going 2-0 in the first two rounds and tying at the top of their groups. All that needed to be determined was seeding.

Similarly, teams like Australia and Chinese Taipei already knew going into the day they would not be moving forward. All they had was one last chance to notch one victory before bowing out of the World Cup.

With the fates of these teams already more or less decided, everyone was pleasantly surprised by how wonderful these matches turned out to be.

Let’s start with Sweden vs. Spain, where Sweden was the heavy favorite. Spain garnered a lot more respect after sweeping through their first two rounds, but they were all but written off against Sweden.

Sweden has been treated as king for almost the entire tournament. Sweden has also apparently been acting like king. Casters Deman and Uber mentioned Sweden “strutting around the whole venue, just rubbing it in everyone’s face.” Sweden has also mentioned they’re only concerned about South Korea and Finland.

Well, Spain came in with a Winston-level Primal Rage and forced Sweden to learn humility. Sweden suffered their first defeat with a match that went all the way down to the last possible control point. Spain was able to somehow win fights that it didn’t look winnable, and they were able to do it with some over-the-shoulder McCree sass.

Footage courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

Spain earn themselves a 3-0 finish in group play and a top seed while Sweden falls to 2-1.

In similar fashion, Russia pounced on the United States and forced the home team to eat a surprising loss. It seemed that the US met their true equal in Russia, so much so that the first map ended in a draw. This caused the match to extend to a fourth tiebreaking map, and even then it went down to the final control point. Previously, Seagull from the US was able to slice through opposing ranks with ease as Genji. But Russia had it’s own master Genji in Shadowburn, and the players often traded devastating plays.

At the end of extremely long match, Russia moved on to 3-0 and a top seed while the US falls to 2-1.

South Korea vs. Finland was the most anticipated matchup of the day, as both teams are major contenders in the tournament. Finland was able to force South Korea to play at their best, and the match was a lot closer than expected. But in the end South Korea got the win that most predicted, and will be top seed from their group.

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The more interesting match that came out of that group actually ended up being Australia vs. Chinese Taipei, both of whom were just fighting for pride. Australia’s previous defeats were particularly humiliating, painting them as the decided underdog going into this match. But Australia were able to band together and eke out an unlikely victory to send them out on a high note.

With those matches completed, all that needed sorting out was Group D. Who would be moving on among China, France, and Thailand?

China vs. France was first up, and again the underdog rose up to take the victory here with France beating China 2-1 out of the three maps. China’s loss brought their record in group play to 2-1, the same as France’s. This meant China and France were tied at the top. They both could move onto the tournament as long as Thailand suffered a loss in their final match in group play.

Here’s what Thailand thought about that:

Footage courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

The lovable goofballs of Thailand breezed through Singapore, forcing Group D into a three-way tie.

In the tiebreaker round robin that followed, each of the three teams would have a chance to play the other teams on the best-of-three control point map of Nepal. The intensity and caliber of gameplay during these quick matches were a treat to watch. Even the boys of Thailand grew serious as they worked toward that coveted spot in the quarterfinals.

In the end, China and France were able to survive round robin play and stake their claim to the last two spots in the tournament. While we are sad to see Thailand go, we are excited to see these quarterfinal teams face off.

The quarterfinals are set to start on Friday, Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. ET. After the four quarterfinal matches, the tournament will go directly into the semifinal matches that say day starting at around 9:15 p.m. ET. You can watch all the action on BlizzCon’s website or on Twitch.