MOUZ, FURIA and Team Falcons punched their playoff tickets with wins Tuesday at the $800,000 PGL Astana 2026 event in Kazakhstan.

MOUZ swept Aurora Gaming, while the Falcons defeated The MongolZ and FURIA beat Gentle Mates by 2-1 scores in Round 4 High Matches to join Team Spirit and 9z Team in the playoffs. The final three spots will be decided Wednesday.

The group stage of the 16-team Counter-Strike 2 tournament began Saturday, with all matches best-of-three in a Swiss System format and the top eight advancing to the playoffs. The single-elimination playoffs are best-of-three matches until Sunday’s best-of-five grand finale, with the winner taking home $256,000.

MOUZ beat Aurora 13-11 on Dust II and 19-15 on Nuke, led by Israel’s Dorian “xertioN” Berman with 47 kills.

The Falcons wrapped a 13-8 win on Dust II and a 16-12 decision on Mirage around a 13-11 loss to The MongolZ on Inferno. Russia’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov paced the winners with 66 kills.

FURIA sandwiched a 13-11 victory on Nuke and a 13-6 win on Inferno around a 13-10 setback to Gentle Mates on Overpass. Kazakhstan’s Danil “molodoy” Golubenko had a team-high 62 kills for FURIA.

In Tuesday’s Round 4 Low Matches, magic, Monte and G2 Esports all stayed alive with 2-1 wins. Magic took out HEROIC, Monte eliminated The Huns Esports and G2 knocked out PARIVISION.

Action continues Wednesday with three Round 5 matches (2-2 teams):
–Gentle Mates vs. magic
–Monte vs. G2 Esports
–The MongolZ vs. Aurora Gaming

PGL Astana 2026 Group Stage standings:
1. 9z Team, 3-0
2. Team Spirit, 3-0
3. MOUZ, 3-1
4. FURIA, 3-1
5. Team Falcons, 3-1
6. The MongolZ, 2-2
7. Monte, 2-2
8. Gentle Mates, 2-2
9. G2 Esports, 2-2
10. Aurora Gaming, 2-2
11. magic, 2-2
12. HEROIC, 1-3
13. PARIVISION, 1-3
14. The Huns Esports, 1-3
15. K27, 0-3
16. Fisher College, 0-3

PGL Astana 2026 prize pool:
1. $256,000
2. $120,000
3. $96,000
4. $56,000
5-8. $40,000
9-11. $20,000
12-14. $12,000 — HEROIC, PARIVISION, The Huns Esports
15-16. $8,000 — K27, Fisher College

–Field Level Media