In Pokémon GO today, on August 18, 2022, the big World Cup event started. We at MeinMMO show you which spawns and bonuses you can expect, which Shinies to look forward to, and what special features Niantic has planned.
What event is it about? For several months, The Pokémon Company has been searching for the Pokémon World Champion in Pokémon GO in cooperation with Niantic. In the coming days, the best players will face each other in a live event in London.
But all other trainers will also be rewarded with a corresponding event in the mobile game on this occasion. So you can look forward to numerous spawns, Shinies, and bonuses in the coming days. And there are also a few special features waiting for you.
All highlights at a glance: During the World Cup event, you can look forward to the following highlights:
- Pikachu in World Cup costume is celebrating its debut
- special event attacks when evolving selected Pokémon
- promo codes for limited research and an avatar item
- Return of Zacian and Zamazenta in level 5 raids
What other contents you can expect has been summarized below.
When does the event start? The World Cup event starts on August 18, 2022, at 10:00 AM local time and runs until August 23, 2022, at 8:00 PM local time.
Spawns and Shinies for the World Cup event
Throughout the event, you may encounter altered spawns in the wild and in raids. Also included is a new costumed Pokémon: Pikachu in World Cup costume. You can encounter it in raids as well as in event field research and limited research.
Of course, you also have the opportunity to encounter one or the other Shiny specimen during the World Cup event. All monsters that can also be found as Shiny are marked with a (*) for you.
Where you can encounter which Pokémon is summarized below.
Wild spawns during the World Cup event
In the wild, you can primarily encounter Pokémon from the first and third game generation. The following monsters will encounter you there:
- Nidoran (female)*
- Menki*
- Machollo*
- Hydropi*
- Zobiris*
- Meditie*
- Wablu*
- Seemops*
- Glibunkel*
- Araqua
Somewhat rarer to find:
- Zurrokex
- Galar-Flunschlik*
All raid bosses for the World Cup event
And you can also look forward to new raid bosses in the raids. In addition to the Pikachu in World Cup costume, which you can obtain for the first time, the legendary Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta and the Mega Pokémon Mega-Lahmus return to the raids.
| Difficulty | Raid Bosses |
| Level 1 Raid | Pikachu with World Cup costume* Galar-Porenta* Marill* Schmerbe* Praktibalk* Zurrokex |
| Level 3 Raid | Rasaff Schlurp* Panzaeron* |
| Level 5 Raid | Zacian Zamazenta |
| Mega Raid | Mega-Lahmus* |
If you want to secure the legendary Pokémon and Mega-Lahmus, be sure to use the best counters. You can find these in our counter guides:
All bonuses and special features for the World Cup event
In addition to the numerous spawns, you can also look forward to plenty of bonuses during the World Cup event. Everything will revolve around the theme of “fighting.” All bonuses that await you in the game during the event are summarized below:
- Daily 50 battles (10 battle sets) in the GO Battle League
- 3x Stardust for wins in the GO Battle League
- Challengers at PokéStops
- Use the teams of the winners of the regional championship
- Which challengers are available and which monsters they use, read here
- Event field research
- Encounters with Bisasam*, Pikachu in World Cup costume*, Nebulak*, Rihorn*, Karpador*, Endivie*, Hydropi*, Galar-Zigzachs*, Tanhel*, Galar-Flunschlik*, Dartiri*
- Which of the researches are particularly worthwhile, read here
- Limited research
- Reward: Premium TM, Charged TM and an encounter with Pikachu in World Championship costume*
- All tasks and rewards of the limited research can be found here
- Exclusive event attacks
- Avatar items in the in-game shop
- Dragon Sports Top, Dragon Sports Shorts, Dark Sports Top, Dark Sports Shorts
Additionally, Niantic has thought of a few special features to bridge the gap to the live event in London. You can follow the battles in a live stream and also grab promo codes for limited research on Team Spirit.
All event attacks for the World Cup event at a glance
How can you secure the attacks? If you evolve the following Pokémon during the event, the corresponding evolution will receive a special event attack:
| Attack | Evolution |
| Rock Wrecker | Rizeros to Rihornior |
| Dark Pulse | Alpollo to Gengar |
| Waterfall | Karpador to Garados |
| Starfall | Metang to Metagross |
| Incinerate | Dartignis to Fiaro |
Is it worth it? Since the Pokémon are among the best attackers in Pokémon GO and are strong candidates in the GO Battle League, evolving can really be worth it for you. After the event ends, you can only teach them these attacks using a Premium TM or Charged TM.
Which 3 evolutions are particularly worthwhile, we have summarized here.
We show you the best attacker of each type in the following video:
Limited research on Team Spirit via promo code
What should be noted? Unlike other events, you can secure a special limited research during the World Cup event, which you only receive by redeeming specific promo codes.
How do you get the codes? These are part of the live stream of the Pokémon World Championship in London. The corresponding codes will be posted in the chat during the live streams and can be redeemed for a limited time so that you can secure the research.
What do we know about the limited research? The research should also thematically revolve around fighting in the PvP League. You should be able to choose between 3 different team variants. Each includes different rewards that should ultimately allow you to have a “PvP-ready team”:
| Reward | Pokémon |
| Team variant 1 | Ariados Pelipper Galar-Flunschlik* |
| Team variant 2 | Panzaeron* Sumpex Piondragi |
| Team variant 3 | Fiaro Bisaflor* Apoquallyp |
Livestream of the Pokémon World Championship in London
What kind of event is it? In addition to the global event taking place in the game, the final tournaments of the Pokémon World Championship will take place from August 18 to 21 at ExCel in London. The best trainers from around the world will compete against each other. For the first time, a winner for Pokémon GO will also be crowned.
If you don’t want to miss this event, you can follow it via live stream on Twitch. These will start at the following times on the Twitch channel of Pokémon GO (German Time):
- August 18 at 09:30 AM
- August 19 at 09:45 AM
- August 20 at 09:45 AM
Is it worth watching? Yes, because during the streams, various promo codes will be announced, with which you can secure not only the limited research on Team Spirit but also a T-shirt as an avatar item.
By the way: Those who participate in the event on-site will receive an exclusive World Cup T-shirt for their avatar.
What do you think of the contents of the World Cup event? Which bonus do you like the best? And which Pokémon were you hoping for at this event? Feel free to share your opinion here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers.
In the coming days, a lot is happening in Pokémon GO. We will show you all events in August and which are worth it.
