The Fifth Fan-Run Mario Kart World Cup Starts Today

The Mario Kart World Cup kicks off today, featuring teams from 10 nations competing in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch, as well as Mario Kart Wii, a 2008 classic that remains a touchstone for the Mario Kart competitive scene. Both games feature 12-player races, so each nation will put forward its six best players to compete for the highest score.

The Mario Kart World Cup does not have official Nintendo backing; it’s a fan-run event currently spearheaded by users from a Mario Kart fan forum called MKBoards. The first Mario Kart World Cup event took place in 2013 and featured Mario Kart 7. Jake Stevens, one of the tournament’s organisers in 2015, told Nintendo Life that the success of the 2013 World Cup led to the foundation of the MKBoards, current organisers of the World Cup and mainstay of the Mario Kart competitive scene.

Both the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Wii competitions begin today. The Mario Kart Wii tournament starts at 4:00AM AEST with a match between Germany and Benelux’s teams on the MKBoards’ Twitch channel. Then, at 5:00AM AEST, Germany’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe team will step up to the plate to face off against Spain.

Here’s the full schedule for the Mario Kart Wii races and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe races unfolding in the next month. For more details about each of the team’s competitors, as well as the organisation of the tournament, check out this guide.