Who Will Win Capcom Cup 2025? Top Players, Schedule, Prize Pool at Street Fighter 6 Championship

Street Fighter 6 Finals at Capcom Cup 2025 will run from March 5-9 in Tokyo, JapanThe best players all over the world including Punk and MenaRD will compete for a million dollar prize poolGet the full schedule including broadcast times in all time zones

Who will take come the lion's share of $1,000,000? / Image: Capcom

The end of winter is nigh, which means that Capcom's premier tournament, the Capcom Cup, is back once again. The Street Fighter 6 tournament serves as the biggest prize pool in fighting game history, as $1 million is up for grabs for the second year in a row. Taking place between March 5th-9th in Tokyo, the almost week-long festivities will see a new Capcom Cup and Street Fighter League champions crowned. So here's how to watch the bracket and which players you should keep an eye on.

How Do I Watch Capcom Cup?

Like most FGC events, the matches will be fully streamed on all your favorite sites like Twitch and YouTube. Streaming of the event begins at 10pm Eastern time (on March 4th) for each night besides Sunday which starts at 9pm. So if you're stateside and want to watch the action as it happens, be prepared to brew some coffee or wake up early.

The schedule is as follows:

	PST	EST	UTC	CET	JST	AUSE
Day 1 Group Stage	March 4th 7pm	March 4th 10pm	March 5th 3am	March 5th 4am	March 5th 12pm	March 5th 4pm
Day 2 Group Stage	March 5th 7pm	March 5th 10pm	March 6th 3am	March 6th 4am	March 6th 12pm	March 6th 4pm
Day 3 Group Stage	March 6th 7pm	March 6th 10pm	March 7th 3am	March 7 4am	March 7th 12pm	March 7th 4pm
Top 16/Finals	March 7th 7pm	March 7th 10pm	March 8th 3am	March 8th 4am	March 8th 12pm	March 8th 4pm
SFL Finals	March 8th 8pm	March 8th 9pm	March 9th 2am	March 9th 3am	March 9th 11am	March 9th 3pm

Unlike years previous, this tournament is leaning harder into its "World Warrior" theming. This year, instead of a last-chance qualifier followed by a randomly seeded bracket, will start with a World Cup-style Group Stage. After that, a knockout bracket of 16 players concludes in one champion at the end of it all. Only the top two players from each group can make it through, so some fan favorites WILL be missing out on the final day. The defending champion of Capcom Cup, UMA, did not make the cut this year, so there will be no back to back champion this year.

Street Fighter League will serve as the finale of the show, as the event is wildly popular in Japan. Each of the three qualifying teams, FlyQuest (NA), Ninjas in Pyjamas (Europe) and Goon 8 Squad (Japan) will play each other round robin style. The two teams with the most points will duke it out in a grand finals which will determine the best team in Street Fighter 6.

The groups for the opening stage of Capcom Cup. / Image: Capcom

Who to Watch For

1. Punk - USA

Punk could cap off one of the best years in FGC history. / Image: Capcom

Punk was already one of the best players in the world, but in 2024, he started to make the case that he is indeed THE best Street Fighter player, full stop. Punk finally got one of the biggest monkeys off his back by becoming the Evo 2024 champion, but he didn't end there. In just one year, he racked up wins at Evo, Dreamhack Atlanta, CEO 2024, and Frosty Fasutings XVI. He won one of the official US East seeding tournaments for Capcom Cup and the Arm The Rebels online tournament as well. To top it all off, virtually put FlyQuest on his back and carried them to the US Street Fighter League championship, all the while popping off against an entire country.

Needless to say, if there's one player that is the "favorite, for this year's Capcom Cup, it's Punk. We've seen players like Arslan Ash have runs like this in other games, but never before has a player won Capcom Cup and Evo within the same 12 months. If Punk pulls off the unlikely and wins the Cup and also wins the Street Fighter League Championship, he'll be immortalized as one of the greatest Street Fighter players ever.

.@PunkDaGod IS TALKING #SFLUS2024 pic.twitter.com/WWhcDl7enV

— FlyFighters (@Fly_Fighters) February 23, 2025

2. MenaRD - Dominican Republic

The only 2-time CapCup Champ is looking to be come the only 3x champ. / Image: Capcom

MenaRD is the only two-time Capcom Cup champion. Known for being one of the most creative players in Street Fighter, Mena is known for being one of the first players to discover the potential of less popular characters. His runs with Birdie in Street Fighter V and Blanka in Street Fighter 6 have single-handedly exposed millions to the potential of those characters. And it's paid dividends as well.

Mena has been a mainstay on the circuit since his first Capcom Cup win back in 2017. He's the reigning EVO Japan champion and could easily find himself back in the grand finals once again.

3. Tokido - Japan

One of the Gods of the FGC returns / Image: Capcom

In an elimination situation, there are very few players you'd want to see less than Tokido. The "Murderface" is never out of contention. He is one of the greatest fighting game players to ever live and continues to win tournaments on a fairly consistent basis. Known for his Akuma, Tokido can scruff out a win against nearly anyone. However, Tokido has never won a Capcom Cup. The closest he came was back in 2017 when he was upset by the then upstart, MenaRD.

4. Itabashi Zangief- Japan

Itazan has been at this for a long time. Can he finally get that W? / Image: Capcom

Itabashi Zangief or Itazan, is one of the Japanese OGs of the bracket along with Fuudo and Tokido. Itazan is known as a big brain in the fighting game community, and as his name says, he mains Zangief. With Itazan, like his grappling avatar, it's feast or famine. In 2024, he's won East Coast Throwdown and gotten to the final four of Japan's online qualifier.

But he's also crashed out of Capcom's official super premier and EVO way down in pools. With that said, Itazan has finished 2nd at Capcom Cup before. Back in 2018, he played an incredible set against his compatriot, Gachikun, but lost in Grand Finals Reset 3-1. So if you're a fan of the weird pick player or grapplers, keep your eye on Itabashi Zangief.

5. Noah The Prodigy

Can Noah grab his first career-defining win? / Image: Capcom

One of the most exciting young players out of North America, Noah the Prodigy has been putting together a series of positive showings that could end in a win at Capcom Cup. One of the strongest players domestically, Noah has already chalked up wins at Frosty Faustings and Blink Respawn. However, his lack of wins at international super majors gives fight fans a moment of pause. But even if he doesn't have the experience of much of the rest of the bracket, he's proven that he's a supremely talented player.

6. Blaz - Chile

Is Blaz ready for the big time? / Image: Capcom

By far the youngest player in the tournament at 16 years old, Blaz is another up-and-coming player from Chile. The South American country has been making waves in recent years with players like Nicolas and ScorpionProcs in the Mortal Kombat scene. While Brazil has traditionally been the big dog in the FGC below the equator, Blaz is looking to make a big splash for Chile in Street Fighter.

7. KnuckleDu - US

Du Dang is back at Capcom Cup once more! / Image: Capcom

KnuckleDu was one of the first of the "new generation" of FGC titans coming out of the US. Following in the footsteps of players like Justin Wong, KnuckleDu is actually the first American to win Capcom Cup. He's known as one of the best defensive players in the world and specializes in a Guile that can be devastating to most players.

There are also a ton of other players to watch for including iDom, Xian, BigBird, AngryBird, NL, Mister Crimson and more. So tune in from March 5th through the 9th for the pinnacle of Street Fighter 6 play.

Capcom Cup DAY 1 RESULTS:

Group A
1. Takamura 2-0
2. Salvatore 1-0
3. Punk 1-0
4. Phenom 1-1
5. HotDog 0-2
6. Itabashi Zangief 0-2

Group B
1. S4ltyKid 2-0
2. NoahTheProdigy 1-0
3. NL 1-1
4. JB 1-1
5. GranTodokai 0-1
6. Itabashi Zangief 0-2

Group C
1. Kakeru 2-0
2. Tokido 1-0
3. Jabhim 1-0
4. Dual Kevin 1-1
5. Zangief_Bolando 0-1
6. GGHalibel 0-2

Group D
1. Broski 2-0
2. Blaz 1-0
3. Armperor 1-0
4. Bravery 1-1
5. iDom 0-2
6. VXBao 0-2

Group E
1. Fuudo 2-0
2. MenaRD 1-0
3. Mister Crimson 1-1
4. Deiver 1-1
5. Limestone 0-1
6. ChrisCCH 0-2

Group F
1. Xian 1-1
2. Big Bird 1-1
3. Jak 1-1
4. Oil King 1-1
5. Uriel Velorio 0-1
6. Leshar 0-1

Group G
1. KnuckleDu 2-0
2. XiaoHai 2-0
3. JuicyJoe 1-1
4. Caba 0-1
5. KilzYou 0-2
6. Nephew 0-1

Group H
1. Shuto 2-0
2. AngryBird 1-0
3. Juninho-Ras 1-0
4. Lexx 1-1
5. Kusanagi 0-1
6. Sole 0-2

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