GOW Esports have become the first Vietnamese team to win the Free Fire MAX Asia Invitational (FFMAI), taking the 2026 Fall edition after a final in which the top three were separated by a single point, according to Tuoi Tre. The online tournament, organised by Garena from 22 to 25 October, ended with GOW level on 130 points with Thailand's Buriram United, the reigning world champions, and one point clear of Indonesia's Bigetron by Vitality. GOW took the title because they were the first to meet the winning conditions of the Champion Rush format.
From 11th place to champions
GOW barely made the final. They finished 11th of the 18 teams in the group stage with 152 points, while Vietnam's other entry, P Esports, topped the group stage with 221 points.
The 12-team final, featuring sides from six Asian countries, was played over eight games. Under Champion Rush rules, reaching 110 points does not win the title on its own: a team must then win one more game, and the first to do both is crowned.
- Games one to six: GOW did not win any. Bigetron topped two games and Buriram won the sixth.
- Game seven, on Purgatory: GOW won with 39 points, lifting their total to 112 points and passing the mark of 110 points.
- Game eight, on Solara: Bigetron and Bangladesh's Team Rage were knocked out in the final zone, leaving four GOW players against four from India's Clutza Esports. Piciu landed a headshot, Gocu added a key elimination and GOW wiped out their opponents to win a second straight game and the title.
Final standings and prize money
| Place | Team | Country | Final points | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GOW Esports | Vietnam | 130 | 15,000 USD |
| 2 | Buriram United | Thailand | 130 | 7,500 USD |
| 3 | Bigetron by Vitality | Indonesia | 129 | 3,500 USD |
| 7 | P Esports | Vietnam | 111 | – |
Bigetron finished third on 129 points. Buriram actually recorded 83 kills, two more than GOW, but Champion Rush rewards the first team to satisfy the winning condition rather than the biggest total. GOW's 15,000 USD, roughly 395 million dong, came from a prize pool of 50,000 USD.
What it means for Vietnamese esports
Every previous FFMAI title had gone to teams from Thailand or Indonesia, so GOW's win puts Vietnam on the list of champions for the first time, and it came at the expense of the reigning world champions. The two Vietnamese teams also showed how unforgiving the format can be: P Esports led the group stage but ended seventh with 111 points, while GOW climbed from the lower half of the group-stage table to the trophy.
What comes next
Tuoi Tre describes FFMAI as one of the notable international stages for Free Fire MAX teams in Asia. The report gave no details of GOW's or P Esports' next international event. The question for GOW is whether they can reproduce the form of their last two games now that the leading Thai and Indonesian sides know what the new champions can do.