The opening day of the Esports World Cup 2026 playoffs concluded on August 19 with four teams securing their spots in the next stage of the competition. G2, FURIA, FUT, and MOUZ all navigated full best-of-three series in the Round of 16 to keep their tournament campaigns alive.
G2 recovers against Astralis
Astralis took an early lead in the series with a dominant 13-6 victory on Ancient. G2 responded immediately on their map pick of Dust2, securing a 13-6 win to force a decider. On Inferno, G2 maintained control and closed the series with a 13-7 scoreline. Artem ‘r1nkle’ Moroz and Nemanja ‘huNter-‘ Kovač led the statistical charts for G2, posting 1.31 and 1.30 ratings respectively.
FURIA outlasts Aurora
FURIA claimed a narrow 13-11 win on Ancient before Aurora tied the series in overtime on Nuke with a 16-14 result. The series concluded on Mirage, where FURIA secured a flawless 10-0 offensive half to offset an early deficit and win the map 13-9. Kaike ‘KSCERATO’ Cerato anchored the Brazilian squad with 64 total kills and a 1.26 rating across the three maps.
FUT completes reverse sweep over magic
After dropping Ancient 13-9, FUT bounced back decisively on Anubis with a 13-7 victory. The decider on Mirage went in favor of FUT with a 13-8 score. Dmytro ‘dem0n’ Myroshnychenko delivered a standout performance for FUT, recording 57 kills and a server-high 1.35 rating.
MOUZ defeats GamerLegion in overtime thriller
The final series of the day pushed both teams to their absolute limits. MOUZ opened with a 13-11 victory on Mirage. GamerLegion responded with a marathon 22-19 win in double overtime on Ancient, highlighted by a clutch performance from Sebastian ‘Tauson’ Tauson Lindelof. MOUZ regained their footing on Nuke, securing the series with a 13-11 victory. Ádám ‘torzsi’ Torzsás led MOUZ with a 1.15 rating, while Dorian ‘xertioN’ Berman closely followed at 1.14.
Quarter-final matchups set
The remaining Round of 16 matches will be played today, while G2 and FURIA will kickoff the Quarter-Finals tonight at 18.50 CEST. FUT and MOUZ face each other on Friday.
