EWC 2026: FURIA, FUT, Legacy, Spirit Set CS2 Semifinal Lineup in Paris

The Counter-Strike 2 field at the Esports World Cup 2026 is down to four. Team Spirit closed out the quarterfinal round on Friday with a 2-1 win over Team Vitality, joining FURIA Esports, FUT Esports and Legacy in Saturday’s semifinals in Paris.

FUT Esports shut out MOUZ 2-0, Legacy defeated Team Falcons by the same score and Team Spirit edged Team Vitality 2-1 in the quarterfinals Friday, while FURIA previously won their quarterfinal match 2-1 over G2 Esports. Thirty-two teams started the CS2 main event nine days ago. Four remain.

Spirit’s 2-1 Win Over Vitality Completes the Final Four

Vitality entered the quarterfinal as one of the tournament’s heavy favourites, but Spirit’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets and company took the series in three maps. The result knocked out the last French hope in front of a home crowd and set up a semifinal pairing nobody had circled before the week began.

donk helped Team Spirit pick apart Team Vitality in front of Paris’ many Vitality fans, while Legacy upset and eliminated IEM Cologne 2026 Major winners, Team Falcons a day earlier. Both results left the bottom half of the bracket looking nothing like its seeding suggested.

Saturday’s Draw: FURIA-FUT and Legacy-Spirit

Spirit and Legacy will now face off in an explosive semifinal while FURIA face FUT Esports on the other side of the bracket. FURIA, led by Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, had already locked their semifinal berth on Thursday by beating G2 Esports. FUT confirmed as their opponent on Friday after a clean 2-0 sweep of MOUZ.

Legacy, the Brazilian side that also eliminated NAVI in the round of 16, face a Spirit team playing for the first time this event as an underdog rather than a top seed. Betting markets on Polymarket had shifted to reflect the chaos: Polymarket users have Team Spirit as the tournament favourites at 47% heading into the weekend.

Read also: Legacy Stun Team Falcons, Reach Esports World Cup 2026 CS2 Semifinals

$2 Million on the Table, Falcons’ Club Points Lead Untouched

The CS2 event carries the biggest CS2 purse the Esports World Cup has offered. Field Level Media’s breakdown of the prize table shows the winner takes home $600,000 and 1,000 Club Championship points, the runner-up $340,000 and 750 points, with the two beaten semifinalists each guaranteed $190,000 and 500 points.

Falcons’ elimination in the quarterfinals matters beyond this single trophy. Tech Times reported that the Club Championship’s $7 million first prize is determined by points accumulated across all 25 EWC game titles, and Friday’s loss removed the Riyadh-based org’s clearest remaining chance to extend a lead built earlier in the season.

Sunday’s Grand Final Moves to the Accor Arena

Both semifinals play out Saturday, August 22, at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. The CS2 grand final will then take place on Sunday, August 23 at 1:30 PM CEST, moving to the Accor Arena for the tournament’s showpiece match. Tickets for the final session are already sold out.

Whoever wins Saturday’s Legacy-Spirit tie will carry momentum from one of the bracket’s most one-sided halves into Sunday. On the other side, FURIA and FUT bring a rivalry three best-of-three series deep already this year, with the head-to-head record split evenly on individual maps despite FURIA’s overall series edge.

Reported from

• Tech Times
• Field Level Media
• ValoSettings
• FPSHUB