LOUD are VALORANT world champions for the second time. The Brazilian organization beat Team Vitality 3-1 in the grand final of VALORANT Champions 2026 in Shanghai on October 18. The official VALORANT Champions Tour account confirmed the result within minutes, posting “THE 2026 WORLD CHAMPIONS OF VALORANT, @LOUDgg!”
The title is LOUD’s second in four years. They won Champions 2022 in Istanbul, and Riot drew the comparison before this final, captioning a post “LIKE 2022 ALL OVER AGAIN” when LOUD locked their grand final spot: “LOUD are back in the VALORANT Champions Grand Finals!” No other organization has won the VALORANT world championship twice.
Three meetings, with LOUD winning the last two
LOUD and Team Vitality met three times at Champions 2026. Vitality took the group-stage match. LOUD answered in the upper-bracket final on October 16, winning 2-1, and again in the grand final two days later. Vitality reached the decider through the lower bracket after beating 100 Thieves 3-1 on October 17.
Champions 2026 ran from September 24 to October 18
The tournament brought 16 teams to Shanghai across a group stage and an eight-team double-elimination playoff. The grand final is a best-of-five.
Tournament MVP
Riot named LOUD’s in-game leader Roberto “erde” Lobos the event MVP and posted a clip of the moment he was announced on stage. Lobos is an 18-year-old from Chile who directs the team’s mid-round decisions.
A second title four years after the first
In 2022 LOUD beat OpTic Gaming 3-1 in the Istanbul final, and in 2026 they beat Team Vitality by the same score. The two titles came from two different rosters.
The season around the final
The Challengers Americas LCQ final earlier in the year drew criticism for its conditions, and viewership at the Esports World Cup dropped below the previous year’s levels.
Hush was revealed during the same weekend
The Champions weekend also hosted the reveal of Hush, VALORANT’s next duelist. Riot showed the character before the grand final, and GamerHeadlines covered the full kit when the reveal aired.
