Invites Announced for IEM Rio 2026

Tournament organizer ESL has officially published the list of teams invited to IEM Rio 2026. The championship will take place in April 2026 and will be one of the key LAN events of the spring part of the Counter-Strike 2 season.

Direct invitations were distributed according to the current Valve Ranking. A total of 13 teams have confirmed their participation in IEM Rio 2026, including Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, Falcons, NAVI, and FURIA. Several additional teams received invitations to closed qualifiers-both global and Americas-where the remaining slots will be decided.

The tournament will be held in two stages. During the group stage, teams will compete in a Double Elimination format with best-of-three matches. Three teams from each group will advance, with group winners securing direct spots in the semifinals. The playoffs will be played in a Single Elimination format (BO3), while the grand final will be a best-of-five series.

ESL Publishes Participant List for ESL Pro League Season 23 in CS2

IEM Rio 2026 will run from April 13 to 19 in Rio de Janeiro. The total prize pool will be $300,000, and the atmosphere of the Brazilian arena is once again expected to be among the most vibrant on the professional CS2 scene.