Tournament overview
IEM Rio 2026 brought 16 Counter-Strike 2 teams to Farmasi Arena from April 13 to 19. The tournament offered a $300,000 player prize pool plus club rewards, but Team Vitality arrived with an even bigger target. One more ESL title would complete the organization’s second Intel Grand Slam and unlock the $1 million bonus.
Vitality’s run was not perfect. Team Falcons beat them 2-1 in the group final, forcing the team to start the playoffs in the quarterfinals. The response was ruthless: Vitality swept Natus Vincere 2-0 and then silenced the Brazilian crowd with another 2-0 win over FURIA. Team Spirit advanced from the other side of the bracket, while Falcons defeated FURIA in the third-place match.
Spirit led Mirage 11-8 in the Grand Final, but Vitality forced overtime and won 16-13. On Nuke, Spirit took an 8-4 halftime lead before Vitality turned the map around 13-10. Dust2 ended 13-5 and completed a 3-0 sweep. Vitality became the first team in Counter-Strike history to win two ESL Grand Slams, while ropz became the first player with three. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut earned his 31st HLTV MVP medal after averaging a 1.56 rating across the arena maps.
Results
Final standings
Champion: Team Vitality, $125,000 player prize, $170,000 club reward and $1,000,000 Grand Slam bonus
Runner-up: Team Spirit, $50,000 player prize and $120,000 club reward
Third place: Team Falcons, $30,000 player prize and $95,000 club reward
Fourth place: FURIA, $20,000 player prize and $75,000 club reward
Grand Final: Team Vitality 3-0 Team Spirit
Mirage: Vitality 16-13 Spirit after overtime
Nuke: Vitality 13-10 Spirit
Dust2: Vitality 13-5 Spirit
Tournament MVP: Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
Key result: Vitality became the first team to win two ESL Grand Slams.
