CS2 Tournaments: Four Teams Survive the EWC 2026 Open Qualifier Gauntlet in Paris

The field was 64 teams. The prize was four spots at a $2,000,000 tournament. By the time the dust settled at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles on August 9, only 100 Thieves, BIG, K27, and JiJieHao were still standing.

The EWC 2026 Open Qualifier ran across three days, starting with a group stage that cut 64 teams down to 32 before switching to single-elimination playoffs where every match was sudden death. The format left no room for error once the knockout bracket began, and several recognizable names found that out the hard way.

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If you want to back your read on how EWC 2026 plays out from here, get your picks locked in at our Pick’ems section before the main event bracket goes live.

Group Stage: Big Names Through, Chaos Already Brewing

Liquid finished first in their group, while BIG, BC.Game, HEROIC, and fnatic also advanced as group winners. Virtus.pro, NRG, 100 Thieves, and FOKUS topped groups from the second half of the opening stage.

The group stage looked relatively orderly on paper, but the warning signs were already there. 1win, SAW, Fluxo, and Iberian Soul were among the final teams to survive their groups. Iberian Soul had the most difficult route among the final qualification matches, facing 6666 and losing Ancient 11-13 before winning Inferno 13-6 and Mirage 13-9 to complete the comeback. It was the kind of resilience that looked like a footnote at the time. It would matter more in the playoffs.

Playoffs: The Bracket of Death Claims Its Victims

100 Thieves, Liquid, BC.Game, FOKUS, OG, and 1win were all placed on the same path, meaning only one of those teams could ultimately secure an EWC main-event spot from that section. It was the kind of draw that would eliminate multiple credible contenders before the quarterfinals.

100 Thieves had a roster built around device and rain, Liquid arrived with NAF, EliGE, and malbsMd, and BC.Game brought arguably the biggest individual names in the entire qualifier through s1mple, electroNic, and Magisk.

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The first major result came when 1win took down Liquid. Andrey "BELCHONOKK" Yasinskiy put up a 2.46-rated performance on Cache that began with a Deagle 4K on a full eco and never let up, putting Liquid to the sword and sending 1win through. For a Liquid side ranked 44 spots above their opponents, it was a genuine upset and a brutal early exit.

With Liquid gone, 100 Thieves had to go through BC.Game next. Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev and company had beaten OG to reach that stage, but 100 Thieves eliminated BC.Game 2-1, with IGL Jack "Gizmy" von Spreckelsen the standout throughout, including a 1v3 clutch to keep the team alive. s1mple's qualifier run ended there.

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100 Thieves then beat 1win 2-0 in the final round to lock in their EWC spot. Gizmy finished the qualifier with a 1.44 rating, and the result marks 100 Thieves' first Tier 1 LAN appearance since returning to Counter-Strike at the start of 2026, also lifting them to No. 33 in the Valve Regional Standings.

The Other Three Qualifiers

BIG were next to confirm their place, picking up a 2-1 win over Sashi, with Gleb "gr1ks" Gazin going 24-9 in the decider map to make sure the Germans were never in serious danger.

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K27 then emerged victorious over fnatic in a reverse sweep, with fnatic failing to convert a series point on map two in a dismal 3v5 situation that cost them the match. Fnatic were made to pay for that, losing in overtime before dropping the reverse sweep.

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Last to qualify was JiJieHao, who completed a reverse sweep of their own over HOTU. Their most significant result on the way there was a win over the former Sharks DENDELE roster. They arrive at EWC as the least-heralded qualifier, but they earned it.

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Notable Eliminations

Several recognizable names, including Liquid, BC.Game, HEROIC, fnatic, and Virtus.pro, failed to make it through the playoff stage. BC.Game in particular will feel the sting most sharply, given the caliber of individual talent on that roster. The s1mple and Magisk combination never got its moment.

What Comes Next

The CS2 Esports World Cup 2026 main event runs August 12-23 in Paris, featuring 32 teams and a $2,000,000 prize pool. The four open qualifier teams join 28 sides who had already locked in their spots through Valve Regional Standings placements. 100 Thieves, BIG, K27, and JiJieHao will step onto that stage knowing they survived one of the hardest qualifier brackets in recent memory to be there.

TL;DR

• EWC 2026 Open Qualifier ran August 7-9 in Paris with 64 teams competing for four spots
• 100 Thieves, BIG, K27, and JiJieHao qualified for the $2,000,000 main event
• 1win upset Team Liquid in the playoffs; 100 Thieves eliminated BC.Game (s1mple) before beating 1win 2-0 to qualify
• Gizmy was the standout performer for 100 Thieves, finishing with a 1.44 rating
• HEROIC, fnatic, Virtus.pro, and BC.Game among the notable eliminations
• EWC 2026 CS2 main event runs August 12-23 in Paris