CrowdStrike, Google Cloud, Cloudflare Grab Round 1 Leads: Global Channel Cup

With 48 hours of voting left, here’s where things stand in the opening round of CRN’s Global Channel Cup Tournament.

Round 1 of the 2026 Global Channel Cup Tournament, is well underway and the teams are starting to show their mettle. Let’s take a look at how the matches are shaping up with 48 hours voting left in the opening round.

The closest matchups of the round are taking place in the Transformation region. Heading into weekend voting, CrowdStrike and Schneider Electric were tied, each with 50 percent of the vote. But since then, CrowdStrike has moved ahead with 53 percent to Schneider Electric’s 47 percent.

Also in the Transformation region, Google Cloud and AMD seem evenly matched. AMD has a slim lead with 51 percent of the vote to Google Cloud’s 49 percent of the vote.

In the Acceleration region, the match between Palo Alto Networks and Cloudflare has gotten feisty. Palo Alto Networks had the lead heading into weekend voting, but Cloudflare has surged ahead and now has 54 percent of the vote to Palo Alto Networks’ 46 percent.

In another lead change, this time in the Innovation region, HP Inc. had come out strong early in its match against Sophos, but Sophos is fighting back and now has the lead with 63 percent of the vote to HP Inc.’s 37 percent.

Here’s a look at the full results so far:

Transformation

Pax8, 57 percent vs. IBM, 43 percent

CrowdStrike, 53 percent vs. Schneider Electric, 47 percent

HPE, 79 percent vs. ThreatLocker, 21 percent

Google Cloud, 49 percent vs. AMD, 51 percent

Acceleration

Ingram Micro, 72 percent vs. Everpure, 28 percent

Palo Alto Networks, 46 percent vs. Cloudflare, 54 percent

Amazon Web Services, 64 percent vs. Eaton, 36 percent

Lenovo, 65 percent vs. Nutanix, 35 percent

Innovation

Microsoft, 79 percent vs. Acer, 21 percent

HP Inc., 37 percent vs. Sophos, 63 percent

TD Synnex, 56 percent vs. WatchGuard, 44 percent

Fortinet, 46 percent vs. Intel, 54 percent

Evolution

Arctic Wolf, 54 percent vs. NetApp, 46 percent

Dell Technologies, 76 percent vs. Alibaba Cloud, 24 per

Cisco, 64 percent vs. CyberPower, 36 percent

Nvidia, 60 percent vs. OpenText Cybersecurity, 40 percent

Voting in Round 1 remains open until noon EDT on Wednesday, July 1, so there’s still time to head to CRN.com/channelcup to cast your votes and choose your champion!