History has been made in Tekken 8 at Esports World Cup 2026 after AG.AL’s Khawaja “M. Zubair” Mohammad Zubair defeated Yoon “LowHigh” Sun-woong in the grand finals. Not only did the win crown a brand new Tekken 8 at EWC winner, but M. Zubair won the tournament after entering through the Last Chance Qualifiers TurkicWorld reports via arabnews.
The feat earns M. Zubair the Jafonso Award, an accolade named after Joao “Jafonso” Vasconcelos, who won the EA SPORTS FC 24 at EWC 2024 title after advancing through the Last Chance Qualifier. M. Zubair’s journey through the LCQ saw him emerge on top of the 444 players competing, where the AG.AL representative went largely undefeated until his grand final opponent reset the bracket, but he was then able to shut him down 3-1.
M. Zubair, a relatively unknown player compared to his opponents, was formidable in every fight, even taking down eight-time EVO winner Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique twice in the competition: once in the group stage with a 3-0 finish, and again in the semifinals with a close 5-4 triumph. Between M. Zubair and the grand prize, however, stood LowHigh, the 2025 Tekken World Tour winner who finished second place at EWC 2025.
It was a fight that M. Zubair would win almost effortlessly, dominating LowHigh in a fast 5-0 sweep. The AG.AL player showed a commanding display on Dragunov, barely giving LowHigh’s Bryan any room to breathe. While LowHigh would chip away a few rounds in his favor, M. Zubair used all the skills in his arsenal to remain in charge, and left LowHigh struggling to pull off any counters.
Speaking on how he managed the 5-0 triumph, M. Zubair attributed it to his practice in Pakistan: “I worked really hard, and I had full faith that I can win this. And with my dedication, and my practice, I think I was able to achieve this.
“I have been practicing a lot in Pakistan. There’s a specific friend of mine who actually played with me, and he also prepared me,” he said. “I’m really grateful to him. When he finds out that I have won the Esports World Cup, he’s going to be very happy. He plays a very pivotal role in my success today.”
For his victory, M. Zubair not only walks away with a $250,000 share of the prize pool, but also the additional $50,000 Jafonso Award. He achieved 1,000 Club Championship points for AG.AL, moving the club to the top of the leaderboard. This first place prize follows the club’s podium finishes in FreeFire, Honor of Kings and TeamFight Tactics, to rocket them to the top of the standings. LowHigh, who finished in second place for the second year in a row, earned $130,000 in winnings, and 750 Club Championship points for Kiwoom DRX.
Earlier, the fight for third place went down between Arslan Ash and the unsigned Benjamin “Yagami” Torngdee. For Arslan Ash, despite his numerous EVO accolades, he had never made it to the top eight at the EWC before. But it was Yagami who would come out on top, holding his own against the Pakistani titan. Yagami, who had shown impressive skill throughout the tournament, ended the series 5-2. He receives a $70,000 share of the prize pool, and will no doubt be in the sights of many clubs going forward.
