Overwatch World Cup 2017's Group Stage Features The US And UK Teams This Weekend

While much of the excitement surrounding Overwatch right now centers around tomorrow's launch of the Summer Games event, the game's big esports competition is about to reach a significant point. This weekend marks the end of the group stage portion of the 2017 Overwatch World Cup.

Three days of matches will take place in Los Angeles beginning this Friday, August 11. This represents the fourth and final leg of the group stage; it will decide which teams secure the final two spots in the round-of-eight competition that will be held during BlizzCon in November.

Among the competitors are the United States' team, as well the United Kingdom's and New Zealand's. The group stage started out with 32 teams total, each from a different country, which participated in a round robin. The top two countries from each group were then sent into a single-elimination playoff bracket.

Here's the list of teams in each of the two groups playing this weekend:

Group G

• USA
• Chinese Taipei
• Brazil
• New Zealand

Group H

• United Kingdom
• Germany
• Israel
• Belgium

The other six teams to qualify for the next round are Australia, China, France, Sweden, Canada, and South Korea. Teams from Russia, Spain, and Japan are among those to have been knocked out during the most recent events, which have taken place over the past few weeks.

Tickets for the LA event are already sold out, though you'll be able to watch the action live online on Twitch. You can check out the full schedule of matches here.

Last year's Summer Games event returns tomorrow, August 8, for a limited time. In addition to bringing back Lucioball mode and the old skins, Blizzard will also introduce a new Lucioball map and new cosmetic items. These have yet to be revealed, but we'll report back as soon as we get a look at them.