Last July, the current champions, Natus Vincere (NAVI), claimed the inaugural trophy of the CS2 World Cup, a victory that followed their triumph at the Copenhagen Major in March. Since then, NAVI has maintained an impressive streak, defeating opponents such as FaZe Clan in the Quarterfinals, MOUZ in the Semifinals, and finally G2 Esports in the Grand Finals.
The 2025 Tournament Format
The CS2 competition will showcase 16 elite teams from around the world, all of whom have been invited directly due to their exceptional performance in the official Global Valve Regional Standings (VRS). These invitations were extended to teams placing first through sixteenth, thereby guaranteeing that only top-tier teams vie for victory.
The VRS rankings to be employed for sending invites will be the initial update released in June 2025. Teams that receive invitations must fulfill the competitive criteria specified by Valve and the tournament organizer, with exceptions granted for players who have been banned by EFG or ESIC.
To ensure transparency, you can find the eligibility conditions for publishing on the Valve VRS platform as well as the invitation guidelines in the Valve’s GitHub repository under the title “Valve VRS Invitations”.
Over A Million Dollars On The Line
The Esports World Cup will feature a $1,250,000 prize pool with a distribution as follows:
- 1st Place: $500,000
- 2nd Place: $230,000
- 3rd-4th Place: $100,000 each
- 5th-8th Place: $40,000 each
- 9th-16th Place: $20,000 each
The contest, with substantial reward funds involved, promises intense gameplay and will likely captivate audiences globally.
A sneak preview of CS2 @ EWC in 2026
We’re disclosing the schedule for the 2026 CS2 tournament at EWC as well. The tournament is scheduled for August 10th to 23rd, 2026. During this timeframe, all teams will be accommodated for travel, media engagements, and the main event will take place.
2024 Recap: Counter-Strike 2 at the EWC
2024 Esports World Cup: Counter-Strike 2 showcased exceptional shooting skills, brilliant strategies, and tactical decisions all around. Eventually, NAVI emerged victorious, claiming the trophy at the closing ceremony. In their opening match against Brazil’s FURIA Esports, NAVI secured a dominant 2-0 win, advancing past the Resurrection Stage. They smoothly moved on to the Quarterfinals where they defeated fellow Copenhagen Major Finalists FaZe Clan with another convincing 2-0 victory. In the Semifinals, they encountered MOUZ and managed to reverse sweep them, winning 2-1 after a heavy 13-1 defeat on Dust 2.
The Grand Final pitted them against G2 Esports, a team boasting formidable strength with players such as Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov. The initial map was a closely contested battle on Ancient, which eventually extended into overtime, resulting in a 16-14 victory for G2.
However, reverse sweeps are something that NAVI is accustomed to, and they handled it with ease yet again. They outplayed G2 13-6 on Nuke and Inferno, securing the Esports World Cup: Counter-Strike 2 trophy in the process.
Check out the Recap Video to relive it!
2024 saw NAVI make significant strides, and their triumph at the Esports World Cup further cemented their advancements. For those who harbored doubts following their victory at the Copenhagen Major, NAVI effectively silenced any skepticism with their unquestionable performance.
In the end, Nikola “NiKo” Kovac didn’t secure victory in the Grand Final, but he still received the MVP title due to his exceptional consistency throughout the tournament. On nine out of ten maps, he maintained a positive rating and kill-to-death ratio. He was not only the top performer on his team but also provided a significant impact, coming very close to helping G2 win another trophy.
About the Esports World Cup
The Global Esports Festival, held annually, showcases outstanding skill and passion within the esports community. Slated to return to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during summer 2025, this event boasts an exclusive cross-game setup where top esports teams from around the world, numbering over 1,500 players, face off against each other for a slice of the largest prize pool ever in the esports industry.
- e-sport / tournaments
- CS / Counter-Strike (franchise)
- sponsored materials
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2025-02-17 16:02