Counter-Strike 2’s last route into the Esports World Cup 2026 opened in Paris this weekend, and the format is every bit as unforgiving as advertised. Sixty-four teams signed up for the EWC Open Qualifier. Sixteen double-elimination groups of four sorted them over two days. Only four will leave with a place at the $2 million main event.
Every match is a best-of-three, the top two from each group advance, and everyone who survives is dropped straight into a single-elimination bracket on Sunday. There is no safety net and no seeding cushion – a rough Friday afternoon can end a campaign an organisation built its entire summer around.
Liquid and 100 Thieves make it look routine
Two of the biggest brands in the field handled the group stage without fuss. Liquid came through Group L without dropping a map, and 100 Thieves did the same in Group K, with Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen posting a 2.85 rating in their Friday opener – a number that reads more like a highlight reel than a scoreline.
They were joined out of Groups I to P by K27, FOKUS, Virtus.pro, NRG, Echo and EYEBALLERS. K27’s route was the most eye-catching: the Russian side handed SINNERS a 13-0 in the winners’ match. Echo edged OG 2-1, while EYEBALLERS lost Ancient 17-19 in double overtime to Phantom before closing the series out on Anubis.
Eternal Fire’s scare and the day’s biggest upset
The Turkish roster was the only genuine heavyweight forced into elimination games on Saturday. NADE, a North Macedonian side, beat them 2-1 on Friday: Eternal Fire took Dust2 13-5, then dropped Ancient 7-13 and Mirage 11-13. A forfeit from SadFamous handed them a free pass to the decider, where they beat NADE in the rematch to save their weekend.
The cleanest upset belonged to Prestige, who knocked Metizport out 2-1 after being run over 2-13 on Ancient, then winning Inferno 13-5 and Nuke 13-7. Metizport were the biggest name eliminated in that round. SINNERS recovered from the K27 hammering with a 2-0 over Dark Tigre, and Sashi, OG, Acend, Phantom and JiJieHao also came through their deciders.
From the first eight groups, BC.Game – fielding s1mple, electroNic and Magisk – and BIG were among the earliest qualifiers on Friday. Fluxo, SAW and 1win were still fighting for the remaining slots as the deciders played out.
Why the qualifier matters for the odds
Short best-of-threes between tier-one names and hungry challengers are exactly the games where pre-match prices lag reality, and the Paris groups have produced several already. Anyone following the market should note that the bookmakers covering esports tend to price open qualifiers off ranking data that a 13-0 or a double-overtime map can make obsolete within a day. The EWC has become one of the season’s defining events across titles – the Dota 2 side of the tournament already crowned its champion in Paris – and Sunday’s single-elimination bracket decides which four CS2 teams get to join them.
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