Six Invitational 2026: Europe and MENA Last Chance Qualifier

With the Six Invitational set to get underway in February and the European and MENA League regional Grand Finals having closed, there is just one more chance for teams to qualify for the event. Enter the Six Invitational Europe and MENA Last Chance Qualifier.

Three sides from the region have already qualified: Team Falcons, G2 Esports, and Team Secret, making it directly to Paris. Three other sides have locked in spots at the qualifier with Team BDS, Virtus.pro, and Gen.G Esports from the T1 of the region, with Pannuhuone from the T2 making it via the Grand Finals.

Europe and MENA Last Chance Qualifier Date and Format

The event kicks off between January 9th and January 11th, with a double-elimination format for the bracket. For now, not much else is known, though it’s expected the entire tournament will be best-of-three, at least for the main event in R6 esports.

The Qualified Teams

The Six Invitational 2026 Europe and MENA Last Chance Qualifiers will have eight teams in the final event. You can see the list of sides below:

• Global Standings: Team BDS
• Global Standings: Virtus.pro
• Global Standings: Gen.G Esports
• Grand Finals Europe 2025-2026 Tier 2: Pannuhuone
• Six Invitational 2026 Europe and MENA Open Qualifier 1 Grand Finalist: TBD
• Six Invitational 2026 Europe and MENA Open Qualifier 1 Grand Finalist: TBD
• Six Invitational 2026 Europe and MENA Open Qualifier 2 Grand Finalist: TBD
• Six Invitational 2026 Europe and MENA Open Qualifier 2 Grand Finalist: TBD

The two Open Qualifier events will take place before the main event, with Qualifier 1 occurring on December 13th-14th and the second on December 20th-21st. Each event will feature 32 sides, and is open to anyone from the region to register.

With four teams now guaranteed, let’s take a look at the four sides.

Team BDS

A very good 2024 looked to be turning into a good 2025 for Team BDS. Having won the Esports World Cup 2024, and second place at the R6 Major Montreal 2024. They turned that into a second-place finish for Six Invitational 2025, which made it look like the side was set to have a strong 2025.

However, it somewhat fell off after that. RE:L0:AD 2025 saw them drop in the group stage, with no top-three finish at any of the Europe MENA regional events. Team BDS were not at the Esports World Cup 2025, and they struggled in the group stage for the BLAST R6 Major Munich 2025.

At the end of the day, they did just enough at the Major Munich to get a spot at the Last Chance Qualifier on points. As a result, Team BDS should be confident that they have a chance to make it.

Virtus.pro

It’s been a disappointing year for Virtus.pro, who only managed top-four finishes in the regional finals at the end of the year. A decent showing at Esports World Cup 2025, which saw them land 5th-8th, but they took home a decent $75,000 in prize money.

The end of the year saw them fail to beat Team Secret, who subsequently went on the qualify for the Six Invitational 2026. The Last Chance Qualifier gives the Russian roster a final chance to make it to Paris, having beaten both Team BDS and Gen.G in the Regional Finals. There’s a glimmer of hope for Virtus.pro.

Gen.G Esports

It’s been a strange year for Gen.G, which ended 5th in both the Europe and MENA Regional League stages. The big moment was that they secured a spot at the Esports World Cup; however, due to the tough bracket and Best-of-one format, they fell to G2 Esports in the first round.

As for the Europe and MENA Regional Finals, Gen.G Esports took on G2 Esports once again in the Upper Bracket, falling to a 2-0 loss, before facing Virtus.pro, where they lost again, this time 2-1. Gen.G Esports has one more chance to prove itself and start 2026 as it means to go on, and put 2025 firmly in the past.

Pannuhuone

Pannuhuone secured the spot as the winner of the Europe and MENA Region Tier 2 event Grand Final winners. A big moment for the site, which, alongside Project Zero, will now qualify for the Challenger Series 2026. But for the Finnish roster, the key is that they secure a spot at the Six Invitational 2026 Qualifier.

It’s been a strong showing in the T2 system for Pannuhuone, who claimed a number of victories along the way to qualifying for the Last Chance Qualifier:

• Euro League & Cup – Fall 2025: Championship Division (C Tier)
• Talent EMEA 2025 (C Tier)
• EON League – Season 4 (D Tier)

The roster also recently came second at the Spoit Contender Series 2025, bagging their largest prize pool of the year with $15,000.

We’ll be following the two open qualifiers for the Six Invitational to follow along with the Europe and MENA region, alongside each of the other three regions’ qualification efforts towards the Six Invitational 2026 in Paris.