Competitive Counter-Strike 2 heads to Portugal as BLAST Premier hosts the second Open event of 2026. Sixteen of the best teams in the world will compete for a share of the $1,100,000 total prize pool, with the playoffs taking place in front of a live audience at the Super Bock Arena in Porto.
BLAST Open Porto 2026
Organizer: BLAST
Dates: August 26 to September 6, 2026
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark (Group stage) and Porto, Portugal (Playoffs)
Prize pool: $1,100,000 total ($400,000 player share, $700,000 club share)
Tier: S-Tier
Participating teams
The 16-team lineup consists of 12 global invites based on Valve Regional Standings (VRS) calculated on July 6, 2026, along with four spots reserved for regional qualifiers. Teams belonging to organizations that already have a higher-ranked team qualified have been removed from the invitation list.
The current list of invited teams via the VRS rankings includes:
Spirit
Falcons
Vitality
Natus Vincere
FURIA
MOUZ
Legacy
Aurora
G2
BetBoom
FUT
9z- EU Qualifier
- NA Qualifier
- SA Qualifier
- Asia Qualifier
Tournament format
Group stage (August 26 to 31, 2026):
Format: Two double elimination (GSL) groups of eight teams each.
Match length: All matches are Best-of-3 (Bo3).
Advancement: The top three teams from each group advance to the playoffs.
Group stage winners: Advance directly to the semifinals.
Group stage runners-up: Advance to the quarterfinals as high seeds.
Group stage third place: Advance to the quarterfinals as low seeds.
Playoffs (September 4 to 6, 2026):
Format: Single elimination bracket.
Match length: Quarterfinals and semifinals are Best-of-3 (Bo3).
Grand final: Best-of-5 (Bo5) showdown to crown the champion.
Prize distribution
1st place: $150,000
2nd place: $60,000
3rd and 4th place: $40,000
5th and 6th place: $20,000
7th and 8th place: $10,000
9th to 12th place: $7,500
13th to 16th place: $5,000
(Note: The remaining $700,000 is distributed among the participating organizations as club share).
Schedule and results
Matches and brackets will be updated live as the tournament progresses. Check back in late August for the group stage opening matchups.
Group stage (August 26 to 31):
Group A opening matches (TBD)
Group B opening matches (TBD)
Playoffs (September 4 to 6):
Quarterfinals: September 4
Semifinals: September 5
Grand final: September 6
