The Counter-Strike portion of the Esports World Cup is underway, with 32 of the world’s best battling it out for the top prize of $600,000. Here’s what you need to know.

This week, another round of competition at the Esports World Cup is getting underway. The last few weeks have seen OpTic Gaming defend their crown in Call of Duty, 100 Thieves made history by winning the Valorant title, while DPlus Kia took home glory in League of Legends.

Now, the action has gone up another notch, with the Counter-Strike 2 side of the competition getting underway. The demand to see the competition has been so fierce that the finals will be played at the Accor Arena, rather than the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. 

A few big names have already fallen short of qualifying through the Last Chance Qualifier, while last year’s champions The MongolZ are back to defend their title. Here’s what you need to know.

EWC

CS2 EWC 2026 streams

Just like every other game at the 2026 Esports World Cup, every match in the CS2 competition will be broadcast across both Twitch and YouTube.

Naturally, there will be some watch parties too, so you can always keep an eye on the action with you favorite streamers. But the official EWC channels are the best place if you don’t want to miss a minute.

CS2 EWC 2026 schedule

As noted, the Counter-Strike tournament has been underway already, thanks to the Last Chance Qualifier. BC Game, whos line-up features s1mple, Electronic, and mag1sk, fell short in their hopes of getting out of that, losing to 100 Thieves – who have made it to the main event.

The group stage consists of four groups of eight team playing best-of-one opening matches. After that, the action moves to best-of-three, before the playoffs, which will also consist of best-of-three matches.

Like other EWC 2026 titles, the grand finals will expand again, taking place across a best-of-five series. 

Day One – August 12

CS2 EWC 2026 rosters

As mentioned, there are 32 teams playing this year, including reigning champions The MongolZ. The Mongolian side are fielding a slightly different line-up this year, however.

Team Vitality and 3DMAX will have plenty of support in France, seeing as they are playing on home soil, but the likes of Team Falcons, G2, and FaZe Clan will also have the crowd behind them too.