The countdown for the Kings World Cup Clubs 2026 Italy, taking place in Milan from July 26 to August 1, is heating up. With the official completion of the Round 1 draw, the 16 qualified teams now know their opening opponents.

One of the main novelties of this edition is the tournament structure: the path to the final will not feature an immediate single-elimination format, but will instead follow a Swiss System, previously used in the Kings World Cup Nations 2025 Italy. This high-intensity strategic format ensures every single match determines positioning in the subsequent brackets.

The Draw in Parma during the Festival della Serie A

The fate of the 16 teams was decided on June 6 in Parma, within the framework of the Festival della Serie A 2026. Four iconic players from Kings League Lottomatica.sport Italy drew the balls to establish the First Round matchups:

Alessio Buono, star goalkeeper for Zeta Como, fresh off an international experience at TST: The Soccer Tournament in North Carolina with Cagliari Calcio.
Davide Bertocchi, one of the key players of Circus.
Alessandro Sigurtà playing for BIGBRO.
Alessandro Di Dio, veteran player for TRM, who also recently starred at TST in North Carolina, playing for the Kings League All-Stars selection alongside Kelvin Oliveira.

Round 1: The Bracket Pairings

Alpak FC vs No Rules FC
Karasu vs G3X FC
Los Troncos FC vs DR7
Underdogs FC vs La Capital CF
Stallions vs DesimpaiN
Ultimate Móstoles vs Aniquiladores FC
Porcinos FC vs Furia FC
Atlético Parceros FC vs FWZ

How the Kings World Cup Clubs 2026 Swiss Format Works

The tournament is divided into an Initial Phase (spanning three stages: First Round, Second Round, and Last Chance) and a classic Final Phase (Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, and Final).

Round 1: The 16 teams face off in the drawn pairings. Winning clubs advance to the Winners’ Bracket, while losing clubs drop to the Losers’ Bracket.
Round 2:
- Winners’ Bracket: Clubs securing their second consecutive victory qualify directly for the Quarter-finals. Defeated teams move to the Last Chance round.
- Losers’ Bracket: Another mistake means going home. Teams suffering a second consecutive defeat are eliminated from the competition. Winning clubs, however, secure a spot in the Last Chance round.
Last Chance: The definitive do-or-die round. The winners of the Losers’ Bracket and the losers of the Winners’ Bracket face off in a single-elimination match: the winners take the last available spots for the Quarter-finals, while the losers are eliminated.
The Final Phase: From the Quarter-finals onward, the tournament reverts to a classic single-elimination format, leading up to the grand final on August 1, which will crown the Club World Champion.

Round 1 Matchups for the Italian Teams

The Parma draw has delivered complex matchups for the three Kings League Lottomatica.sport Italy clubs, who must make the most of their home-court advantage to head straight into the Winners’ Bracket:

Alpak FC vs No Rules FC: A head-to-head clash between Alpak, Champions of the Italian Split 2, and No Rules, Champions of Kings League Germany Split 2. A highly tactical continental European debut.

Underdogs FC vs La Capital CF: Mirko Cisco and il Rosso, finalists of the Italian Split 2 (and regular phase leaders), face Lamine Yamal’s La Capital, making their second world appearance after debuting in Paris at the Kings World Cup Clubs 2025.

Stallions vs DesimpaiN: An elite test for Blur’s team against the Champions of Kings League Brazil Split 2. The Stallions head into the match backed by the all-time defensive record of the Italian league: just 9 total defeats accumulated across Split 1, Split 2, and the Kings Cup Lottomatica.sport Italy.

Major International Clashes

Round 1 will immediately test the world’s top clubs:

Porcinos FC vs Furia FC: Alessandro Di Dio’s hand drew the ultimate marquee match of the First Round. It features Porcinos (owned by Ibai)—champions of the Kings World Cup Clubs 2024 Mexico and the Kings Cup Europe 2025—against Furia (owned by Neymar)—champions of the Kings Cup America and Brazilian Split 1. Both clubs hold veteran status, having participated in all three editions of the club world championship. Fun fact: in their debut at the Kings World Cup Clubs 2024 Mexico, the Stallions faced both Furia and Porcinos, losing both matches.

Los Troncos FC vs DR7: The reigning champions of the Kings World Cup Clubs 2025 Paris and Spanish Split 6, Perxitaa’s Los Troncos, begin their title defense against Drb7h’s DR7 from Saudi Arabia, winners of the Kings Cup MENA 2025.

Ultimate Móstoles vs Aniquiladores FC: A classic Spain-Colombia matchup. DjMaRiiO’s Ultimate Móstoles—Champions of the Spanish Split 5 (with the grand final played at the Inalpi Arena in Turin right after the historic TRM vs Zeta clash), winners of the Kings Cup 2024, and making their third Kings World Cup Clubs appearance after 2024 Mexico and 2025 Paris—will face Juan Guarnizo’s Aniquiladores, winners of Split 4 of the Kings League Openbank Mexico. A clash that echoes the Spanish Split 3 semi-final.