The 2026 Pokémon World Championships wrapped up after three days of competition in San Francisco, California, running from August 28 through August 30. The annual season-ending event brought together top players from around the world across four major titles: Pokémon Video Game Championships, Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.
For trading card fans, the TCG results are the headline draw, with champions crowned in Junior, Senior, and Masters divisions. The event also delivered a broad look at the current global competitive landscape, with strong finishes from players representing Japan, the United States, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and several other regions.
Here is a complete breakdown of the top finishers from each official competition at the 2026 Pokémon World Championships.
Pokémon TCG World Champions for 2026
The Pokémon Trading Card Game competition featured three age divisions, each with an eight-player top finishers list. The Masters division title went to Andrew Hedrick of the United States, while Yuta Araki of Japan won Juniors and Jake Ng of Australia took first in Seniors.
For more collector background, read 2026 Pokémon World Championships: Biggest Moments From San Francisco Across VGC, TCG, GO, and UNITE.
Junior Division Top Finishers
- Yuta Araki (Japan)
- Luke Giffen (United States)
- Bo-Sen Chang (Taiwan)
- Michael Rubin (United States)
- Reo Otake (Japan)
- Aoi Matsuno (Japan)
- Cedrik Balk (Finland)
- Chihiro Goto (Japan)
Senior Division Top Finishers
- Jake Ng (Australia)
- Cobey Huh (United States)
- Jones Diaz (United States)
- Prince Williams (United States)
- Chau Chi Chung (Hong Kong)
- So Numata (Japan)
- Lee Hanjun (South Korea)
- Conor Moore (United States)
Masters Division Top Finishers
- Andrew Hedrick (United States)
- Diego Cassiraga (Argentina)
- Brent Tonisson (Australia)
- Henry Chao (United States)
- Rune Heiremans (Belgium)
- Satoshi Matsui (United States)
- Mateusz Łaszkiewicz (Poland)
- Nathan Spry (Australia)
The TCG standings underline how balanced the international field has become. Japan placed four players in the Junior top eight, while the United States posted multiple deep runs across all three divisions. Australia also had a standout showing, highlighted by a Senior title from Jake Ng and podium finishes in both Senior and Masters.
Andrew Hedrick finishing first in Masters is especially notable given how competitive that bracket is every year. Diego Cassiraga claimed runner-up honors for Argentina, and Brent Tonisson added another podium finish for Australia. The United States also placed Henry Chao and Satoshi Matsui inside the top eight, giving that region a strong Masters presence.
2026 Pokémon VGC Results
The Video Game Championships also crowned champions in Junior, Senior, and Masters divisions. Japan led the way at the top of the standings, winning Junior and Masters, while the United Kingdom earned the Senior division title.
For another perspective on this story, read 2026 Pokémon World Championships Results: TCG, VGC, GO and UNITE Champions.
Junior Division Top Finishers
- Kazuki Kage (Japan)
- Kazutaka Hatahori (Japan)
- Francisco Leite (Brazil)
- Izhaq Hoggui (France)
- Sanghyeon Lee (South Korea)
- Anthony Beloni (Brazil)
- Rinako Tatsumi (Japan)
- Oskar Biezaitis-Day (Australia)
Senior Division Top Finishers
- Vikram Thiagarajan (United Kingdom)
- Carlos Verástegui (Peru)
- Lucas de Carvalho Barbosa (Brazil)
- Esa Ishaque (Canada)
- Leo Fontvieille (France)
- Alberto Fabi (Italy)
- Noah Alampay (Philippines)
- Luke Whittier (United States)
Masters Division Top Finishers
- Takuma Yamazaki (Japan)
- Hiroshi Onishi (Japan)
- Zachary Weed (United States)
- João Felipe Leite (Brazil)
- Antonio Sánchez (Spain)
- Yuya Wakasugi (Japan)
- Stefano Greppi (Italy)
- Giovanni Pecitelli (Italy)
Japan's presence was particularly strong in VGC, with multiple players appearing throughout the Junior and Masters standings. Takuma Yamazaki captured the Masters championship, and Hiroshi Onishi made it a one-two finish for Japan at the top. In Seniors, Vikram Thiagarajan delivered the division title for the United Kingdom, edging a field that included top contenders from Peru, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, the Philippines, and the United States.
Brazil also had a strong VGC weekend, placing Francisco Leite and Anthony Beloni in the Junior top eight, Lucas de Carvalho Barbosa in Senior, and João Felipe Leite in the Masters top four.
Pokémon GO Top Finishers
The Pokémon GO championship bracket produced a global top eight led by Japan's Hiroki Yamauchi, who finished in first place under the trainer name GGs489hiromaru. Switzerland's Maxwell Ember took second, while Japan's Yoshihiro Umeda rounded out the top three.
- Hiroki Yamauchi, Trainer Name: GGs489hiromaru (Japan)
- Maxwell Ember, Trainer Name: MEweedle (Switzerland)
- Yoshihiro Umeda, Trainer Name: NnnnnKonToNoooo (Japan)
- Martin Galderisi, Trainer Name: MartoGalde (Argentina)
- Jack Fearn, Trainer Name: KingOWT (United Kingdom) - Tied for 5th
- David Bustos Nordgren, Trainer Name: PvpDavid07 (Sweden) - Tied for 5th
- Jasper McAvity, Trainer Name: CaspianPike (United States) - Tied for 7th
- Aiden Hedderly, Trainer Name: OutOfPoket (United States) - Tied for 7th
The Pokémon GO results added to Japan's strong overall showing at Worlds, while also highlighting notable runs from Switzerland, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the United States. Hiroki Yamauchi's first-place finish put Japan on top once again in another major title at the event.
Pokémon UNITE Standings and Team Rosters
Pokémon UNITE closed the weekend with a team-based finish led by Zeta Division from Japan. KOMAÏ claimed second place, Igzist took third, and Gremio Esports finished fourth. Four more teams rounded out the Top 8.
1st Place: Zeta Division (Japan)
- ZETANomu - SHOYA WADA
- ZETA1LevUP - KAITO NAGAO
- ZETARom - Naoki Yamakawa
- ZETAVitoppo - YUSHI KANEKO
- ZETAMizu - Yuto Tsuda
- ZETAResTA - Taichi Iida
2nd Place: KOMAÏ (Europe)
- Toast - Jost Ruholl
- Ghatlue - Hassan Al Abadi
- Gekk - Raul Candeias
- Nirami - Leonardo Pagni
- Adesu - Alberto González Torralbo
- Nils - Nils von Lengerke
3rd Place: Igzist (Japan)
- IGZKaki - KAZUKI HIYAMA
- IGZKap1f - Iwasaki Masao
- IGZxMisyi - Kazama Syuma
- IGZTomy - Yuki Mito
- IGZ最強chan - SHO SAKATA
- Tamerin - Tessei Arai
4th Place: Gremio Esports (Brazil)
- Souto - BRIAN LUIS FOGACA SOUTO
- KyluKz - KAUA CARVALHO SILVA
- LeL - LEONARDO PEREIRA RIVELLO LOURO
- Falbシ - MISAEL OLIVEIRA FERREIRA
- Angel - PAULO VICTOR RISCADO RANGEL
- Replicate - Antonio Carlos Tucci Thiesen
Top 8 Teams
T1 (Korea)
- Pisterio - SUNGSOON PARK
- Seram - JAE YOUNG KIM
- T1Comi - MINHYEOK CHO
- T1ePe - JIHWAN LEE
- Subeen - Subeen Jin
REJECT (Japan)
- RCSatake - Oga Shigenaga
- RCpiui - Hiroki Sato
- RC/P4vóNe - TAIKI SAITO
- RCHaruto - haruto ohashi
- RCyume - Yumeto Tanabe
- Overlord - William Byrnes III
C,C,hayatobiha (Japan)
- hayatobiha - HAYATE ITO
- ここあった - ARATA FUJISHIEO
- Ch4nceM4ker - Daiki Saito
- あるみに - YUSEI SAITO
- かびきらー - SHUICHI HIRATA
- INOJI - Komei Saito
Evil Geniuses (North America)
- Kyriaos - Kihyun Lee
- Vin - Jonathan Guo
- Rollin - Anthony Vazquez Nava
- Chrismyth - Christopher Cox
- Ducky - Peder Larson
- PikaDiff - Steve Tran
Zeta Division's title run added another major result for Japan, which had a commanding presence throughout the event across both individual and team formats. KOMAÏ's runner-up finish gave Europe a spot in the grand final, while Brazil's Gremio Esports and North America's Evil Geniuses helped round out a diverse international top eight.
What the 2026 Results Show Across Competitive Pokémon
The 2026 World Championships results reflect a truly global competition scene. Japan was one of the clearest standout regions, winning major titles in VGC, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE, while also putting multiple players into the top eight of the TCG standings. The United States also turned in a strong event, especially in Pokémon TCG Masters, where Andrew Hedrick won the world title and several other American players finished near the top in both Senior and Masters divisions.
For TCG collectors and competitive followers, these results can influence attention on key decks, staple cards, and player-driven metagame trends in the weeks ahead. World Championship finishes often shape interest around specific strategies, especially in Masters, where championship-level deck choices tend to attract the most discussion from players preparing for the next season.
Beyond the winners themselves, the spread of countries and regions across every top cut shows how broad the competitive base has become. Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, Poland, Hong Kong, Finland, South Korea, Switzerland, Sweden, Peru, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, and the Philippines all appeared somewhere in the final standings across the four games.
2027 Pokémon World Championships Location
The next World Championships destination is already set. During closing ceremonies, Singapore was revealed as the host city for the 2027 Pokémon World Championships.
That announcement gives players, collectors, and fans an early look at where the next season will end, while also shifting attention toward the qualification race for 2027. With another Championship Series underway and season changes on the horizon, the San Francisco results now serve as the benchmark every top player will be chasing on the road to Singapore.
