On July 11, the Intel World Open — the first-ever official country-based Rocket League tournament — kicks off. Tied into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, eight continents will play in four separate regional events. Originally, they were to play in Tokyo, Japan last year. But, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has transitioned to online regionals. Here’s when everything goes down and how to watch.
Intel World Open schedule
The schedule is unusual, to say the least. Starting on a Sunday and running through to Wednesday, the event is held as the weekend closes, as opposed to the usual weekend-long tournaments. Additionally, the starting times are quite inconvenient for many fans.
All of the matches will be broadcasted on the official ESL Twitch channel.
Asia Maritime and Oceania
- Sunday, July 11 at 3:30 a.m. EDT
- Monday, July 12 at 3:30 a.m. EDT
Prize pool: $45,000
Asia Maritime was given two out of the four slots in the IWO. It mostly consists of many small islands in south-east Asia. So, it’s no surprise that Indonesia, with a population of over 270 million, claimed both of those spots. They will go up against Oceanic teams; one from Australia and one from New Zealand.
Asia Mainland
- Sunday, July 11 at 8 a.m. EDT
- Monday, July 12 at 5:45 a.m. EDT
Prize pool: $45,000
Asia Mainland consists of much of the rest of Asia but, out of four slots in the finals, three countries qualified for the main IWO event. Japan goes into the event as the favorite and will try to stop two Singaporean teams and one Malaysian team from taking first place, worth $17,500.
EMEA
- Tuesday, July 13 at 5 a.m. EDT
- Wednesday, July 14 at 7:15 a.m. EDT
Prize pool: $80,000
The IWO EMEA region pits European teams against middle eastern and African rosters for the first time in official capacity. The United Kingdom, Germany and France each had a guaranteed spot. For Europe West, Europe North and Europe East, the countries that qualified are the Netherlands, Norway and the Czech Republic, respectively. Saudi Arabia and South Africa have qualified for the middle east and Africa.
Americas
- Tuesday, July 13 at 12:30 p.m. EDT
- Wednesday, July 14 at 1:15 p.m. EDT
Prize pool: $80,000
Like EMEA, IWO Americas is an eight-team event. The countries that were given a guaranteed spot are the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. From the South American qualifier, Uruguay made it to the main event, while Puerto Rico came in via the North and Central America qualifiers.
