The organizers of the Esports World Cup have announced the group draw for the main CS2 tournament, which features a $2 million prize pool. The group composition was revealed shortly after the conclusion of the Last Chance Qualifier, which determined the final four participants in the competition.
The 32 teams were divided into four groups of eight teams each. Seeding was determined based on their positions in Valve’s July VRS rankings.
Two of the four teams that advanced through the Last Chance Qualifier—BIG and JiJieHao—were placed in Group A. This was made possible by BIG’s high position in the VRS rankings: the team outranked several teams that had received direct invitations to the tournament based on their previous rankings.
The group stage will begin on Wednesday, August 12, and run through Sunday, August 16. Teams will compete in a double-elimination format: opening matches will be best-of-three (bo3), and all subsequent matches will be best-of-five (bo5).
The top four teams from each group will advance to the playoffs, which will take place from August 19 to 23 using a single-elimination format. The tournament will conclude with the grand final at the Accor Arena.
The teams are divided into groups as follows:
Group A: Spirit, Aurora, G2, GamerLegion, Luminosity, M80, BIG, JiJieHao
Group B: Falcons, Legacy, BetBoom, Astralis, MIBR, FaZe, Ninjas in Pyjamas, K27
Group C: Vitality, MOUZ, FUT, B8, PARIVISION, TYLOO, Lynn Vision, 100 Thieves
Group D: NAVI, FURIA, 9z, The MongolZ, M80, paiN, Wildcard, 3DMAX
