The thrill by no means ends for the FGC on the Esports activities World Cup, with Tekken 8 presently in full swing. Even in simply the primary two group phases, the competitors has already proven that it’s going to be fierce and that no person is handing out free wins.
With that mentioned, wouldn’t or not it’s enjoyable to foretell the highest 8 of a really risky match? I certain assume so. I even ready a spreadsheet so I can have a look at the gamers’ whole win charges and set counts towards one another!
So what are we ready for? Let’s dive into my predictions for this 12 months’s Tekken 8 on the Esports World Cup!
Lim “Ulsan” Soo-hoon
I feel it’s a no brainer that the two-time EWC champion, Ulsan, goes to be within the prime 8 of this competitors. Certain, I do know that the earlier champions of each Road Fighter 6 and Deadly Fury: Metropolis of the Wolves had been eradicated within the group phases of their tournaments, however Ulsan survived his, regardless of struggling an enormous loss towards Khawaja “M. Zubair” Muhammad Zubair, the winner of the Tekken 8 Final Likelihood Qualifier.
Whereas he barely certified for the second part of the occasion, he has a reasonably good likelihood of attending to the highest 8 on paper. See, his worst matchup within the group is Daichi “Nobi” Nakayama and Qasim Meer, with the 2 of them taking a set lead over him. The remainder of the group, he has a fair or a constructive win fee.
To not point out, Ulsan appears to have woken up after his group stage loss towards M. Zubair, and has completed all his video games with a 3-0 even towards the Tekken legend Bae “Knee” Jae-Min. With that mentioned, the curse of the three-peat nonetheless hangs round, however I consider Ulsan has what it takes to interrupt it.
Jeon “Jeondding” Sang-hyun
Subsequent in line, it’s Jeondding. The Esports World Cup appears to be his match for some cause, as he at all times performs very properly within the format. Within the first Esports World Cup, regardless of ending ninth, he eradicated arguably one of the best Tekken participant on this planet, Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique. Within the Esports World Cup 2025, he completed 4th, solely dropping towards Kim “CherryBerryMango” Jae-hyun’s Jin.
Nonetheless, in his present group, he’s confronted with an enormous problem to beat. His first match is towards Nobi, a participant who has a one-set benefit over him. There’s additionally an opportunity that he may face Ulsan, fairly most likely his worst participant matchup in the entire match, with a 2-8 set depend in favor of Ulsan. In 2026, although, they each tied 1-1.
Jeongding has proven that he’s constant sufficient to at all times place in enormous tournaments such because the Esports World Cup, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see him once more within the prime 8.
Khawaja “M. Zubair” Muhammad Zubair
This one’s a curveball, however I simply can’t ignore M. Zubair’s breakout efficiency – not simply within the Final Likelihood Qualifiers, but in addition in the primary occasion. M. Zubair doesn’t journey a lot, which implies that his knowledge within the spreadsheet is sort of skewed. Nonetheless, in terms of his Pakistani brethren, he has a reasonably good win fee towards most of them. His worst matchup goes to be towards Adeel “THE JON” Sheikh, who has a two-set benefit over him.
His efficiency in the primary occasion, nonetheless, is simply spectacular. Regardless of falling towards Takaba
“Keisuke” Keisuke 3-0, he bounced again and 3-0’d Akihiro “Ao” Abe, eliminating the latter from the match. M. Zubair’s excellence was additionally observed by Ulsan, saying that he’s going to be an issue in Tekken due to how robust he’s.
M. Zubair remains to be an anomaly with not quite a lot of knowledge concerning his worldwide performances, but when this EWC is one thing to go by, he’s going to be one other risk.
Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique
It’s true that a few of Arslan Ash’s weakest performances have been from the Esports World Cup. He positioned twenty fifth on the Esports World Cup 2024 and thirteenth on the Esports World Cup 2025. Nonetheless, this time, it is likely to be totally different.
In his group alone, he has a constructive win fee towards everybody besides The Jon, who has a one-set lead towards him. I anticipate him to be dominant for the remainder of the match, and he’s feeling assured when he’s memeing proper after qualifying for part 2.
In opposition to all rivals within the occasion, he has a complete win fee of 62%, making him one among two gamers with an over 60% win fee towards different gamers within the match. The opposite one is Ulsan.
Muhammad “Farzeen” Farzeen
Farzeen has been a staple at Esports World Cup, qualifying for the 2024 and 2025 situations of the occasion, with a top-8 end on the former. His 2025 expedition landed him at seventeenth, not even getting into the second part, however he has an excellent likelihood to win this time if he retains his efficiency up.
In part 1, he ran via the winner’s bracket, defeating Jarrad “NinjaKilla” Gooden 3-2 and Sayed “Tekken Grasp” Hashim Ahmed 3-1. He’s additionally coming in sizzling to the match with a few main wins at THE MIXUP 2026 and Combo Breaker 2026.
Within the spreadsheet, he has a 58% win fee, exhibiting his probabilities of attending to the highest 8. In his aspect of the bracket, he additionally has a constructive win fee towards the gamers there, specifically: Nobi, Jeondding, and Park “Mangja” Geon-ho.
Speaking about the entire group, it’s the identical factor. A really constructive win fee towards every particular person, so until he’s having a really dangerous day, he ought to have a ticket to the highest 8.
Adeel “THE JON” Sheikh
Our resident King participant – and fairly most likely probably the most hype gamers on this planet. The Jon has what it takes to get into the Prime 8 undoubtedly. He sports activities a win proportion of round 45% towards all of the opponents within the competitors. Nonetheless, in his group alone? He owns it.
His first match is towards M. Zubair, and he has a 3-1 set depend towards him. He additionally has a profitable set depend towards Arslan Ash, which is an excellent factor. The Jon additionally certified from the winner’s aspect of the primary part of the occasion, exhibiting simply how strong he’s on this match.
With that mentioned, he nonetheless has a dropping document in his group towards Usama Abbasi, a participant he has a 4-8 set depend towards. He’s going to be his largest problem in the event that they ever meet within the bracket. However in my view? The Jon can take this from the winner’s aspect if he can sustain his consistency.
Takaba “Keisuke” Keisuke
Now we get to the enjoyable half. Keisuke has one of many worst win charges within the spreadsheet I made, however I’m prepared to guess a complete $5 that he’s going to get Prime 8 on this match. Why? Simply check out his part 1 efficiency: 3-2 over Knee and 3-0 over the star of the match, M.Zubair.
Over on Twitter, he admitted that there was a time when his confidence faltered, however after remembering Arslan Ash’s recommendation to belief in himself, he bounced again. He even made a tweet about that interplay.
So now, all the way down to the information half, it’s trying nice for Keisuke. The one cause his win proportion dropped to mid-30 % was as a result of his 0-5 set depend towards JeonDDing and 1-4 set depend towards Arslan Ash, and it’s solely the latter who’s in his group.
One of many issues I see is his character, Kazuya. Similar to different Mishima characters, Kazuya is simply as efficient when you have your reads and confidence to go for dangerous 50-50s. That is the rationale why “consider in your self” is such nice recommendation from Arslan for Keisuke as a result of in the event you don’t consider in your self whereas utilizing Kazuya, there’s likelihood you may get eradicated from the match. Kim “iKARi” Min-kyu was a sufferer of this together with his exit within the first part of the occasion.
Personally, Keisuke is one among my favorites on this match and seeing him carry out like this places a smile on my face.
Daichi “Nobi” Nakayama
To finish the Prime 8 prediction, it’s going to be the Japanese GOAT, Nobi. It was exhausting to decide on between Nobi and Qasim Meer, as a result of the 2 of them each have a 50% win proportion, however I’m going with my intestine right here by saying I feel Nobi takes the cake between the 2 of them.
He was far more dominant in part one, solely dropping a complete of two video games towards Alexandre “AK” Laverez and Nauman “Numan Ch” Chaudhry, whereas Qasim Meer misplaced 3. I do know that is nitpicky, however that’s the rationale why I made the spreadsheet. I need to be backed by knowledge as a lot as potential.
Taking a look at his group, he’s with Qasim Meer. Nonetheless, he solely has a dropping set depend towards Farzeen, whereas Qasim Meer has a dropping set depend towards Farzeen and Jeondding. This makes it extra possible for Nobi to qualify for the highest 8. Nonetheless, it actually remains to be on the market whether or not he can carry out to one of the best of his skills.
And that’s just about it! Listed here are my predictions for the Prime 8, backed by a scuffed spreadsheet I made in the midst of the evening!
