Twenty countries have qualified for the 2018 Overwatch World Cup on the basis of the average SR of their top 150 players. They are set to compete in the group stage alongside the four host nations South Korea, the United States, Thailand and France. China finished with the highest average SR yet again this year, despite the change of format, while Taiwan, Switzerland and Brazil just edged out countries such as Saudi Arabia and Belgium.

A list of the nations that will compete in the 2018 World Cup, and the respective qualifiers they will compete in, is provided below:

South Korea Qualifier

  • Russia
  • Finland
  • Taiwan
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Hong Kong

United States Qualifier

  • Canada
  • Austria
  • United States
  • Brazil
  • Switzerland
  • Norway

Thailand Qualifier

  • China
  • Australia
  • Sweden
  • Thailand
  • Spain
  • Denmark

France Qualifier

  • United Kingdom
  • Poland
  • Italy
  • Germany
  • Netherlands
  • France

With all participants now locked in for the event, the formation of each country's national committee has entered Phase 1. Overwatch players are now be able to endorse candidates for the Coach and Community Lead committee positions.

Ten candidates will be determined from these nominations for the Community Lead position, with voting on these candidates starting on May 17 and ending on May 31. The top 150 players from each country will be able to vote for one of three Coach candidates during this same period. A General Manager for each country will be chosen by Blizzard by the end of the month. Tryouts for each roster will commence in June once each committee is formed.