Group stages set for Overwatch World Cup 2017

The road to BlizzCon starts this summer.

Two weeks ago, the 32 countries who will be competing in the Overwatch World Cup were finalized. Now those countries have been sorted into groups of four teams each in preparation for the first round of matches that will kick off the World Cup this summer.

According to Overwatch World Cup’s official site, each country has had three committee members elected by the larger Overwatch community. Their job will be to pick the players that will make up their country’s team. Once teams have been set, round-robin matches within each four-team group will begin.

“From each group, the top two teams will play in the first round of the single-elimination playoffs for that region,” the website explains. “The two playoff winners from each region will make up the eight-team field in the Overwatch World Cup at BlizzCon.”

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This year, the World Cup has expanded live events to include group play as well. Two groups will play in live matches in each of the following four locations: Shanghai, China; Sydney, Australia; Katowice, Poland; and Burbank, CA in the US. Unsurprisingly, the group containing the US team will be one of those playing in Burbank.

A complete list of all the groups are below:

Group A (Shanghai, CN): China, Hong Kong, Norway, Romania
Group B (Shanghai, CN): France, Denmark, Thailand, Argentina
Group C (Sydney, AU): Sweden, Australia, Italy, Portugal
Group D (Sydney, AU): Finland, Japan, Spain, Vietnam
Group E (Katowice, PL): South Korea, Netherlands, Poland, Austria
Group F (Katowice, PL): Canada, Russia, Singapore, Turkey
Group G (Burbank, US): United States, Chinese Taipei, Brazil, New Zealand
Group H (Burbank, US): United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, Belgium

Blizzard will be releasing more information in the future on how fans can attend these events.