EWC 2026 CS2 1st day: BO1 Format Delivers Early Upsets

The opening round of Esports World Cup 2026 immediately produced several unexpected CS2 results. With the first matches played as single-map series, one slow start was enough to send a favorite straight into the lower bracket.

The biggest upset came from JiJieHao, who defeated Team Spirit 13:10. The Asian side took down the world’s No. 1 team and pushed Spirit into the lower bracket after just one map.

BIG and B8 Add Two More Upsets

Cache produced two more surprising results.

BIG defeated Aurora 13:9, handing Aurora an opening-round loss.

The B8 vs PARIVISION game was even more dramatic. PARIVISION led 11:8, but B8 won the closing rounds to complete the comeback and take the map 13:11.

That meant several teams considered favorites before the opening round were already fighting through the lower bracket after a single map.

9z Deliver the Most Expected Blowout

Not every opening match ended in an upset.

9z crushed paiN 13:3, and this matchup stood out in the Winio model as one of the clearest gaps in team strength among the opening-round games.

BO3 Series Come Next

After the opening round, EWC 2026 moves into best-of-three series. The longer format gives teams more room to adjust after a bad map and reduces the impact of a single slow start.

That makes the next stage particularly interesting: we will start to see which opening-round surprises reflected real form and which were amplified by the volatility of a BO1.

Follow EWC 2026 on Winio.ai, compare current team form, AI-powered win probabilities and match predictions before the next CS2 series.