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North America’s open route to São Paulo
Registration is open for the first North America qualifier leading to VCT Americas Kickoff 2027. Riot’s October 15 announcement sets two November qualifiers, followed by a 16-team Swiss stage and an eight-team double-elimination bracket. The winner takes North America’s guaranteed Kickoff place; the runner-up gets another attempt through the Americas Last Chance Qualifier.
The same competition also serves as the North America qualifier for Red Bull Home Ground 2026. Both finalists qualify for that event, giving the final a different consequence from the race for the direct VCT place.
Registration deadlines—and the daylight-saving change
The first qualifier runs November 5–8, 2026. Registration opened on October 19 at noon Pacific time and closes October 30 at 11:59 p.m. PDT, which is October 31 at 06:59 UTC.
Qualifier two runs November 12–15. Its registration opens October 26 at noon PDT / 19:00 UTC and closes November 8 at 11:59 p.m. PST / November 9 at 07:59 UTC. The UTC offset changes because Los Angeles leaves daylight-saving time on November 1; the two deadlines are not on the same Pacific offset.
Use the registration link in Riot’s announcement. Both qualifiers use single-elimination, best-of-three matches, with at least four teams advancing from each.
Who can enter?
Riot specifies a minimum age of 17 and a peak rank of at least Ascendant within the previous six months. It also flags the need for up-to-date travel documents and visas for teams that advance to international travel.
Raidiant’s registration page also requires player verification and a complete five-player registration. It directs teams to its Discord information channel for the registration and verification links; submitted teams then go through verification and Riot anti-cheat review.
The 16-team Qualifiers Playoffs field will combine qualifiers with invited teams. Riot says invitations will consider 2026 VCT Americas teams not extended as partners, plus leading Challengers and Game Changers teams. It has not listed the full field in this announcement.
Two wins in Swiss, then double elimination
The Swiss stage runs November 20–22; teams need two wins to advance. Eight teams then enter the December 1–6 double-elimination bracket.
The champion qualifies directly for VCT Americas Kickoff in São Paulo. The runner-up joins the second-place teams from Brazil and LATAM at the Americas LCQ on December 17–18, also in São Paulo, for the remaining place.
Kickoff will have eight invited partner teams and four non-partner teams. Three non-partner places are guaranteed regional berths—North America, Brazil and Latin America—and the fourth comes from that LCQ. Riot says each of the four qualifying non-partner teams receives a $100,000 stipend; this is not a prize pool for the North America qualifier.
Home Ground and the broadcast start
Red Bull Home Ground’s World Final runs December 10–13 in Los Angeles, with groups at WePlay Studios on December 10–11 and the World Finals at the Shrine Auditorium on December 12–13. Both North America finalists secure a place.
Riot says its official broadcast starts with the Qualifiers Playoffs, not the opening qualifiers. Follow VALORANT Americas on Twitch and YouTube for that coverage. The announced ranges are competition dates, not daily match-start times; individual fixtures should be checked on the official channels as the field takes shape.
For other events, see our VALORANT hub and competition calendar.