The 2026 World Championships will be held in San Francisco, CA, United States on 28–30 August 2026.
It is the 13th time that Worlds is held in the United States; the 6th time that it is held in California (2009, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2025, 2026); and the 2nd time in San Francisco, where it was already held in 2016!
Table of Contents
Worlds invite requirements
| Rating Zone | Criteria | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| North America* | Top 80 players in the Masters Division in the US & Canada CP leaderboard Top 20 players in the Senior Division in the US & Canada CP leaderboard Top 20 players in the Junior Division in the US & Canada CP leaderboard | ||
| Europe* | Top 80 players in the Masters Division in the Europe CP leaderboard Top 20 players in the Senior Division in the Europe CP leaderboard Top 20 players in the Junior Division in the Europe CP leaderboard | ||
| Latin America* | Top 60 players in the Masters Division in the Latin America CP leaderboard Top 15 players in the Senior Division in the Latin America CP leaderboard Top 15 players in the Junior Division in the Latin America CP leaderboard | ||
| Oceania* | Top 20 players in the Masters Division in the Oceania CP leaderboard Top 10 players in the Senior Division in the Oceania CP leaderboard Top 10 players in the Junior Division in the Oceania CP leaderboard | ||
| Middle East and South Africa* | Top 5 players in the Masters Division in the ME&SA CP leaderboard Top 5 players in the Senior Division in the ME&SA CP leaderboard Top 5 players in the Junior Division in the ME&SA CP leaderboard | ||
| Japan | TBD (expected to depend on the results of the Japan Championships / PJCS) | ||
| South Korea | TBD (expected to depend on the results of the Pokémon Trainers Cup / PTC Finals) | ||
| Asia-Pacific | TBD (expected to depend on the results of the Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand Master Ball Leagues) | ||
| 2026 International Championships | Top 4 players from each age division at LAIC Top 4 players from each age division at EUIC Top 4 players from each age division at NAIC | ||
| 2026 Regional & Special Championships | The Champions from each age division of every TPCi Regional and Special Championships worldwide | ||
| 2025 World Championships | Top 4 players from each age division in the 2025 World Championships | ||
* Players earning an invite through their results in a World, International, Regional, or Special Championship, will not count against the total invitation slots for their rating zone’s CP leaderboards.
The following is the list of the Masters Division players that have qualified to the 2026 World Championships by any of the means described above.
Players in bold receive some kind of Travel Award or stipend (Tiers 1 & 2 invites in TPCi regions, top players in TPC & Pokémon Korea regions). The players have been ordered with those in TA tiers first, and then alphabetically.
Latest update: 23 November 2025
North America
| # | Criteria | Player | Best results this season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regional Champion |  Alex Arand | Milwaukee Regional Champion |
| 2 | Regional Champion | Chuppa Cross IV | Pittsburgh Regional Champion |
| 3 | Regional Champion |  Dylan Salvanera | Las Vegas Regional Champion |
| 4 | 2025 World Champion | Giovanni Cischke | LAIC Top 16 |
| 5 | 2025 Worlds Finalist | James Evans | Pittsburgh Regional Top 16 Las Vegas Regional Top 4 |
| 6 | 2025 Worlds Semifinalist | Montana Mott | 1x Regional Phase 2 |
| 7 | Regional Champion |  Stefan Mott | Monterrey Regional Champion |
Europe
| # | Criteria | Player | Best results this season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regional Champion |  Emanuele Briganti | Frankfurt Regional Champion Grand Challenge II 2nd place Grand Challenge III Top 4 |
| 2 | Regional Champion | Marco Silva | Lille Regional Champion Gdańsk Regional Top 16 LAIC Top 16 |
| 3 | Regional Champion | Simone Sanvito | Gdańsk Regional Champion |
| 4 | International Semifinalist |  Théotime Massaut | Gdańsk Regional Finalist LAIC Top 4 |
Latin America
| # | Criteria | Player | Best results this season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | International Finalist |  Juan Salerno | Belo Horizonte Regional Top 16 Gdańsk Regional Top 4 Grand Challenge III Top 8 Buenos Aires SC Finalist LAIC Finalist |
| 2 | SC Champion |  Kenneth Gamboa | Belo Horizonte Regional Top 8 Buenos Aires SC Champion |
| 3 | Regional Champion |  Renzo Navarro | Belo Horizonte Regional Champion LAIC Top 64 |
Oceania
No one from this region has earned a Worlds spot yet.
Middle East & South Africa
No one from this region has earned a Worlds spot yet.
Japan
| # | Criteria | Player | Best results this season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025 Worlds Semifinalist |  Hirofumi Kimura | – |
| 2 | Regional Champion | Kaito Arii | Brisbane Regional Champion |
| 3 | International Champion | Yuma Kinugawa | LAIC Champion |
| 4 | International Semifinalist | Yuya Tada | Brisbane Regional Finalist LAIC Top 4 |
South Korea
No one from this region has earned a Worlds spot yet.
Asia-Pacific
No one from this region has earned a Worlds spot yet.
