Don’t Miss the Start of CS2 Esports World Cup 2025

On August 20, the CS2 tournament at EWC 2025 officially kicks off. This is a massive event that brings together more than 20 esports disciplines, uniting the best players and teams from around the world. Starting today, we’ll see the strongest CS2 teams face off against each other for the championship title, a huge prize pool, and the highly valuable EWC Points that every organization is striving to earn.

CS2 EWC 2025 Day 1 Schedule

Today we’re in for six full Bo3 matches, and most importantly, the tournament is played in a Single-Elimination bracket format. This means each team has only one chance on their path to the championship title — a single mistake leads to elimination. If you’re not yet familiar with the tournament structure, we recommend checking out our Esports World Cup CS2 Viewer Guide, where you’ll find all the key details about what the teams are fighting for and the full format breakdown to make your viewing experience even better.

August 20 matches:

• GamerLegion vs MongolZ (14:00 EEST)
• Natus Vincere vs 3DMAX (14:00 EEST)
• TYLOO vs Astralis (17:15 EEST)
• Team Vitality vs Team Liquid (17:15 EEST)
• FaZe Clan vs Aurora Gaming (20:30 EEST)
• HEROIC vs Team Spirit (20:30 EEST)

As you can see, today we’ll get plenty of top-tier Counter-Strike, with every team fully focused on victory since the stakes are so high.

One match I especially recommend watching is FaZe Clan vs Aurora Gaming. These two teams are complete opposites in their playstyle. FaZe Clan function as a well-oiled machine under the leadership of legendary captain karrigan, while Aurora Gaming stand out for their sharp aim and mechanically gifted players. It’s a clash of two ideas and two very different approaches to the game.

That said, both teams are currently going through a rough patch, which is no secret to those following the pro scene. They’ve both managed to challenge the world’s best lineups, yet neither has been able to consistently break past the top 5–8 mark. For FaZe Clan, the situation is a bit different — they’ve been searching for answers, experimenting with roster changes and stand-ins. A notable example was bringing in s1mple on loan for two tournaments. While their performance looked decent, it didn’t translate into any major results.

EGamersWorld together with our partner GG.BET invite you to the FaZe Clan vs Aurora Gaming match at EWC 2025 in CS2. Both teams bring very different approaches: FaZe rely on refined strategy and team discipline, while Aurora lean on aggression and individual skill. It’s exactly these kinds of stylistic clashes that often produce the most exciting matches. Head over to gg.bet, place your bet, and make watching this showdown even more thrilling.

EGW prediction for the matchday

To make the prediction more accurate, I recommend checking out CS2 Esports World Cup 2025: Teams Overview, where we’ve gathered information about the teams, their current form, and their latest achievements.

Today’s matches overall look very competitive, so let’s start with the first one. In the GamerLegion vs The MongolZ match, The MongolZ are the absolute favorites. A unique team that shook up the pro scene and continues to impress. And EWC 2025 could be the tournament that cements their success with a championship title.

Natus Vincere vs 3DMAX – if we look strictly at the numbers, Natus Vincere are much stronger than 3DMAX. But Born to Win are currently struggling, and the replacement of jL with the young makazze, while he performed decently at the previous tournament, still revealed gaps in the game that may not have been fixed. 3DMAX, on the other hand, are a dark horse that can upset much stronger opponents. A team with character and creative ideas. That’s why this match should be exciting. And if it were a Bo1 format, I’d give preference to 3DMAX. But I think in a Bo3 match, NaVi will manage to prevail.

TYLOO vs Astralis – this is a very symbolic match, a rematch after FISSURE Playground 1, where the teams met in the final and TYLOO claimed a confident 3:1 victory. Will Astralis be able to take revenge today, or will TYLOO continue their winning streak against them? In my opinion, TYLOO look very good, and their recent performances at international Tier-S tournaments have only made them stronger. My choice is 2:1 in favor of TYLOO.

The match between Team Vitality and Team Liquid looks one-sided. Bookmakers and most analysts lean towards a Vitality victory, which is a very reasonable assumption. The team has put together a win streak of 7 championship titles this year. Team Liquid, despite having very strong players, cannot seem to find their game lately. Matches against them turn into a test for opponents, but TL still can’t find the answer to close out games they should be winning. Even if the team has improved their level of play, Team Vitality are unfortunately still too strong, and the outcome is most likely a 2:0 in favor of Team Vitality.

HEROIC vs Team Spirit – one of those matches where the favorite is obvious. TS currently hold 2nd place in the HLTV rankings and are very close to matching Team Vitality in terms of tournament wins. HEROIC, however, have been unable to win anything in the last couple of years, settling for playoff appearances and occasionally finishing top-3 at Tier-S events. The team is very inconsistent and tends to play fairly default setups, which might work against some opponents but not against a team like Team Spirit.