The full list of participants includes the top VRS placements and teams from the American and global qualifiers.
The announcement of Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2026 (IEM Rio 2026) caused pure joy in the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) community. Esports events in Brazil are spectacular, and people here are super passionate about CS2.
At the start of this competitive season, the organizers from the ESL FACEIT Group revealed all the teams invited to IEM Rio 2026. The main tournament happens from April 13 to April 19.
Counter-Strike 2 teams at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2026
The image below shows the invited teams at CS2 esports IEM Rio 2026. It includes those who advance directly to the main event and contenders in two qualifiers.
One team from the American qualifier
The original reveal listed four teams invited to the closed American qualifier. Also, four CS2 teams come from the open qualifier. Only one can make it to the IEM Rio 2026.
| Invited to the American qualifier | Team from the open qualifier |
|---|---|
| Imperial Esports | ShindeN |
| Fluxo W7M | ODDIK |
| BESTIA | 9z Team |
| Sharks Esports | RED Canids |
The American qualifier for Intel Extreme Masters 2025 happen from Jan. 21 to Jan. 23. The format is double-elimination brackets.
UPDATE – RED Canids won the American qualifier and earned their spot at CS2 IEM Rio 2026.
Two teams from the global qualifier
The global qualifier for Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2026 has 12 invited teams and four coming from the open qualifier. They battle for two available spots in the final tournament.
| Invites | Invites | Invites | Open qualifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| PARIVISION | GamerLegion | Fnatic | Sangal Esports |
| HEROIC | BetBoom Team | EYEBALLERS | BIG Academy |
| FUT Esports | Gentle Mates | K27 | Nuclear TigeRES |
| BC.Game Esports | HOTU | 9INE | Team Nemesis |
The dates and format of this global qualifier are the same as the American: double-elimination brackets from Jan. 21 to Jan. 23.
UPDATE – The two teams to qualify from the global tournament are HOTU and Gentle Mates.
Direct invites to CS2 IEM Rio 2026: The favorites
The list of CS2 esports teams with direct invites to IEM Rio 2026 was formed by VRS Global placements in January 2026. Therefore, it features pretty much the same teams that play at IEM Krakow 2025.
FURIA got their invite from VRS South America, and Passion UA advanced from VRS North America.
| FURIA | Aurora Gaming |
| Passion UA | B8 |
| Team Vitality | Legacy |
| Team Falcons | G2 Esports |
| Team Spirit | Team Liquid |
| Natus Vincere | 3DMAX |
| MOUZ |
The CS2 esports season 2026 certainly is a refreshed competitive experience. We have a few big tournaments ahead of IEM Rio 2026, and they should reveal the current power balance at the top-most level of Counter-Strike.
The biggest favorites of the season start are those who performed the best at the end of 2025.
- Team Vitality won the Budapest Major, claiming two such victories in 2025.
- FURIA had a phenomenal second half of the year. Their wins include IEM Chengdu 2025. This team is the crowd favorites in Rio de Janeiro!
- MOUZ, Team Spirit, and Team Falcons can reach the top this time. They are among the top picks on the best esports betting sites.
NAVI could also be named one of the favorites, but their loss to Monte in the online qualifier for BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 crushes these expectations.
Before the tournament in Rio, we can see a few other big CS2 esports events. For example, IEM Krakow 2026 is from Jan. 28 to Feb. 8. BLAST Open Spring 2026 is from March 18 to March 29, with Playoffs in Rotterdam.