Invited Teams Announced for PGL Astana 2026 CS2 Tournament

Tournament organizer PGL has announced the list of teams that received direct invitations to the upcoming PGL Astana 2026 tournament in Counter-Strike 2. The championship will take place in May 2026 and will feature 16 teams from around the world.

According to the organizers, the invitations were issued based on the official Valve ranking. Among the invited teams are well-known squads such as Team Spirit, G2 Esports, PARIVISION, Team Falcons, FURIA Esports, and several other teams. In total, 12 teams received direct invites to the tournament.

The remaining four spots will be determined through closed qualifiers. These qualifying tournaments will take place in four regions:

• Europe

• North America

• South America

• Asia

The winners of these qualifiers will join the invited teams and complete the final list of participants.

The tournament will be divided into two main stages. First, teams will compete in the group stage, which will follow a Swiss format. All matches in this stage will be played as Best-of-3, and the eight strongest teams will advance to the next phase of the competition.

After the group stage concludes, the tournament will move to the playoffs, which will be played in a Single Elimination format. Most matches in this stage will also be played as Best-of-3, while the grand final will take place in a Best-of-5 series.

PGL Astana 2026 will be held from May 7 to May 17, 2026, in Astana, Kazakhstan. The total prize pool for the championship will be $800,000, which will be distributed among the 16 participating teams.

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The event is expected to become one of the largest tournaments of the spring season on the professional Counter-Strike 2 scene, attracting attention from both teams and fans worldwide.