The joy 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 stated, wouldn’t or not it’s enjoyable to foretell the highest 8 of a really unstable match? I positive suppose so. I even ready a spreadsheet so I can take a look at the gamers’ whole win charges and set counts in opposition to 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. Positive, I do know that the earlier champions of each Avenue Fighter 6 and Deadly Fury: Metropolis of the Wolves have been eradicated within the group phases of their tournaments, however Ulsan survived his, regardless of struggling an enormous loss in opposition to 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 probability 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 good or a optimistic win charge.
To not point out, Ulsan appears to have woken up after his group stage loss in opposition to M. Zubair, and has completed all his video games with a 3-0 even in opposition to the Tekken legend Bae “Knee” Jae-Min. With that stated, the curse of the three-peat nonetheless hangs round, however I imagine 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 purpose, as he at all times performs very effectively within the format. Within the first Esports World Cup, regardless of ending ninth, he eradicated arguably one of the best Tekken participant on the earth, Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique. Within the Esports World Cup 2025, he completed 4th, solely shedding in opposition to Kim “CherryBerryMango” Jae-hyun’s Jin.
Nevertheless, in his present group, he’s confronted with an enormous problem to beat. His first match is in opposition to Nobi, a participant who has a one-set benefit over him. There’s additionally an opportunity that he would possibly face Ulsan, fairly most likely his worst participant matchup in the entire match, with a 2-8 set rely 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 large 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. Nevertheless, with regards to his Pakistani brethren, he has a reasonably good win charge in opposition to most of them. His worst matchup goes to be in opposition to 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 in opposition to 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 seen by Ulsan, saying that he’s going to be an issue in Tekken due to how robust he’s.
M. Zubair continues to be an anomaly with not plenty 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. Nevertheless, this time, it is perhaps totally different.
In his group alone, he has a optimistic win charge in opposition to everybody besides The Jon, who has a one-set lead in opposition to him. I count on 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 charge of 62%, making him certainly one of two gamers with an over 60% win charge in opposition to 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 coming into the second part, however he has an ideal probability to win this time if he retains his efficiency up.
In part 1, he ran by 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 charge, exhibiting his possibilities of attending to the highest 8. In his facet of the bracket, he additionally has a optimistic win charge in opposition to the gamers there, particularly: Nobi, Jeondding, and Park “Mangja” Geon-ho.
Speaking about the entire group, it’s the identical factor. A really optimistic win charge in opposition to every individual, so except he’s having a really unhealthy day, he ought to have a ticket to the highest 8.
Adeel “THE JON” Sheikh
Our resident King participant – and fairly most likely one of the crucial hype gamers on the earth. The Jon has what it takes to get into the Prime 8 for sure. He sports activities a win share of round 45% in opposition to all of the opponents within the competitors. Nevertheless, in his group alone? He owns it.
His first match is in opposition to M. Zubair, and he has a 3-1 set rely in opposition to him. He additionally has a profitable set rely in opposition to Arslan Ash, which is an excellent factor. The Jon additionally certified from the winner’s facet of the primary part of the occasion, exhibiting simply how stable he’s on this match.
With that stated, he nonetheless has a shedding file in his group in opposition to Usama Abbasi, a participant he has a 4-8 set rely in opposition to. 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 facet 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 an entire $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, right down to the info half, it’s wanting nice for Keisuke. The one purpose his win share dropped to mid-30 % was resulting from his 0-5 set rely in opposition to JeonDDing and 1-4 set rely in opposition to Arslan Ash, and it’s solely the latter who’s in his group.
One of many issues I see is his character, Kazuya. Identical to different Mishima characters, Kazuya is simply as efficient when you’ve got your reads and confidence to go for dangerous 50-50s. That is the rationale why “imagine in your self” is such nice recommendation from Arslan for Keisuke as a result of in case you don’t imagine in your self whereas utilizing Kazuya, there’s a very good probability you would possibly 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 certainly one of 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 onerous to decide on between Nobi and Qasim Meer, as a result of the 2 of them each have a 50% win share, 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 shedding a complete of two video games in opposition to 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 wish to be backed by knowledge as a lot as attainable.
Taking a look at his group, he’s with Qasim Meer. Nevertheless, he solely has a shedding set rely in opposition to Farzeen, whereas Qasim Meer has a shedding set rely in opposition to Farzeen and Jeondding. This makes it extra doubtless for Nobi to qualify for the highest 8. Nevertheless, it actually continues to be on the market whether or not he can carry out to one of the best of his talents.
And that’s just about it! Listed below are my predictions for the Prime 8, backed by a scuffed spreadsheet I made in the course of the evening!
