Rocket League World Championship preview: Schedule, format, teams, and picks

Luke Warr Published September 9, 2025

The RLCS 2025 World Championship is finally here, and for Rocket League fans gearing up for the calendar’s biggest tournament it’s worth going over the schedule, format, and the favorites to win.

After a relatively leisurely summer, the Rocket League season is set to close with a bang at its annual World Championship event. An extra-large tournament is now set with 20 teams competing for the game’s top prize. But who are the real contenders to take home the trophy?

Tournament details

RLCS 2025 World Championship competing teams

There are 20 teams looking to win the Rocket League World Championship in France, but all signs point to just a couple of serious contenders for the ultimate prize in the RLCS circuit. That’s not necessarily unusual for RLCS majors, but it may be even more exaggerated here than in many past events.

Who are the favorites to win?

Karmine Corp and Team Falcons are the definitive favorites to win the RLCS 2025 World Championship. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise, given that these two teams have won three of the biggest tournaments of the year so far.

Karmine Corp won the Esports World Cup in August, taking down Geekay Esports in the finals after also winning the Birmingham Major in March. Team Falcons came in third at the Esports World Cup, but took first place in the Raleigh Major in June.

Those results have these teams marked as the top contenders to win, but they’re not alone in contention.

Other contenders

Various top teams from different regions around the world have at least an outside shot at winning the title. Though KC and Falcons are the definitive favorites, they’re not a slam dunk by any means.

Karmine Corp rivals Team Vitality, Dignitas, and Geekay Esports are all legitimate threats against any opponent. The same goes for top North American team NRG. South America’s Furia is also a dark horse contender to watch out for, though they’re perhaps a longer shot to actually win it all.

Play-ins ➡️ Groups ➡️ Playoffs

Who’s got what it takes to win the 2025 Rocket League World Championship? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/7lPTTcgqrR

— Rocket League Esports (@RLEsports) September 5, 2025

Tournament format

• Tournament begins with an eight-team play-in stage
• The play-in stage is a double-elimination bracket, with the top four teams earning a group stage spot
• Group stage features 16 teams, split into two groups
• The top four teams of either group advance to the playoffs
• The top two teams get a preferred starting position in the playoffs
• The third and fourth-place teams from either group face elimination matches throughout the playoffs

The RLCS 2025 World Championship combines different elements from previous Rocket League majors and championship events.

The play-in stage features a double-elimination bracket with eight teams that were ranked highly within their regions or won last-chance qualifiers. Teams need to win two matches to advance to the group stage from this bracket.

The group stage works similarly. There are eight teams in each group, with teams needing to win two matches to advance. Teams that lose two matches are eliminated and sent home.

The playoffs work similarly to what was seen at last year’s Rocket League world championship. The third- and fourth-place teams from either group are matched up in an elimination match to determine who moves on and who goes home.

The top two teams from either group are then matched against each other and effectively earn a mulligan on their quarterfinal match. The winners of these matches advance directly to the semifinals. The losers of the match play against the survivors of the aforementioned elimination matches. The remaining teams then compete for a spot in the RLCS World Championship grand finals, the single biggest match of the year in Rocket League esports.

RLCS 2025 World Championship dates and schedule

• Tournament begins with play-in stage on September 10, 2025 at 9 am ET / 3 pm CET
• Group stage runs from September 11-12
• Playoffs begin September 13
• Quarterfinals, semifinals, and grand finals are played on September 14

While the Rocket League World Championship is a massive event, it plays out very quickly. Each day is a sprint and will be packed with matches, giving fans plenty of action to tune in for.

The final day is the most hurried, with five best-of-seven series all slated to take place on the day. While there’s plenty of action to take in, fans who want to see it all will have to be glued to their screen for hours at a time.

Full prize pool breakdown

The RLCS 2025 World Championship has a $1.2 million prize pool with a $300,000 top prize. While that’s a comparatively small chunk of the prize pool, the good news is that all 20 teams get at least some money for their troubles. Here is the full prize pool breakdown:

RLCS 2025 World Championship betting tips and predictions

Fans looking to bet on the Rocket League World Championship should focus on Karmine Corp and Team Falcons. These two teams are the favorites to win it all, and that’s for good reason. Still, for those interested in getting involved in esports betting around the event, there are other teams worth paying attention to.

• Team Falcons and KC will be the betting favorites in any match they play in. That’s valid, but it might force bettors to look at prop bets to make a real profit.
• There’s plenty of action to find in outright winner lines. Karmine Corp is pegged as a 3.0 favorite to win the tournament, while Falcons sits at 3.75. Everyone else is at 8.5 or higher.
• Ninjas in Pyjamas, Virtus.pro, and Gen.G are the top teams in the play-in stage, and they could make some noise in the group stage.
• There will be some very competitive match-ups in the group stage, with many of the contenders set to face off early and providing early action for interested bettors.
• There’s a lot of value in match score bets, especially with the tournament set to be entirely comprised of best-of-five and best-of-seven series play.

Assuming that this tournament does pan out as a two-horse race, it’s worth noting that Karmine Corp and Team Falcons are positioned as far apart as they could be in the group stage. While they faced off in the semifinals of the Esports World Cup in August, if the two teams are successful at the RLCS World Championship they likely won’t meet until the grand finals here barring exceptional circumstances.