What to Expect From Counter-Strike 2 PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 Event
As far as Esports go, Counter-Strike 2 is one of the most popular games. In the domain of CS 2, the PGL Cluj-Napoca event is a Tier 1 tournament, and the eyes of the Esports world will be on it in coming weeks. Behind it, you'll find a Romanian based organisation called PGL, which is in charge of many more major CS 2 events on the calendar.
The history between Counter-Strike and Romania is now over a decade long, as the first event organised by PGL was held way back in 2015. Back then, it was only a PGL CS:GO Champions Series tourney. Only a year later, PGL stepped up their game and held its first Minor Championships in Europe. Not long after they've spread their influence to Asia too.
Fast forward to 2021, and PGL got its hands on a major tournament and it was the PGL Major Stockholm. Last year, they decided to pay homage to their home country, and the PGL Cluj-Napoca was born. This year, the tradition continues and the expectations are high for the upcoming tournament. If you plan on watching it, and place a few casual wagers here and there, you need to start by reading this exclusive Esports betting guide. If you've done that, getting to know the tournament's format and schedule needs to be the next step.
Format and Schedule
Cluj-Napoca will be home to 16 best Counter-Strike 2 teams in coming weeks. This PGL tournament consists of both the group stages and playoffs. All teams will be battling it off for a prize poll of $625,000. The PGL Cluj-Napoca final stages start on February 14th, with the Grand Final being scheduled for 22nd of February. The home venue is BT Arena in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Before we move to the main duels, the Group Stages need to be concluded.
9-13 February-Group Stage
All sixteen teams are divided into groups with the intended format being the Swiss system. In the group stages we will have 5 rounds played. All duels are bets of 3 fights, and the best 8 teams will move from the groups stages into the playoffs.
20-22 February-Playoffs
Top teams get special treatment, and only the best will enter the single elimination bracket playoffs. Here, they will also be pitted into the best of 3 series. Those who win, advance further until the Grand Final. Only the Grand Final is played in the best of 5 games.
Teams That Have Qualified for PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
As we said, only the best of the best have qualified. Yes, teams such as Spirit and Liquid are missing this one, each for their separate reasons, but the rest of the roster is top notch nonetheless. In just a couple of days, you will have a chance to see FURIA, Team Vitality, Team Falcons, Natus Vincere, MOUZ, FaZe Clan, The MongolZ, Aurora Gaming, B8, G2 Esports, 3DMAX, Astralis, PARIVISION, HEROIC, paIN Gaming, and FUT Esports.
The first round of the tournament already promises a lot of action, and the event will be opened with duels such as NAVI vs. Astralis, and Aurors vs. FUT. MOUZ vs. PARIVISION is seen as one of the more interesting battles of the first round, while FaZe vs. HEROIC, and Vitality vs. G2 are what's perceived as two of the more one sided duels of the first round. The same could be said for Falcons vs. 3DMAX and FURIA vs. B8, while MongolZ vs. PaIN is seen as a more equal battle of the first round. If you plan to bet on PGL Cluj-Napoca, starting with the Group stages is the way to go.
Who Are The 2026 PGL Cluj-Napoca Favorites?
This tournament holds a lot of value to teams participating. The stakes are high, and you can expect that every team is going to give their best. While many good battles lie ahead of us, the early favorites are already known. The odds on Stake.com are already available, and according to them, these are the teams to follow during the Cluj-Napoca tournament.
Team Vitality
Team Vitality wrapped up 2025 in style and opened this year in the same manner. Not so long ago this team appeared to be invincible. While now we know that they can be beaten it takes nothing out of their quality. Team Vitality is the best Counter-Strike 2 team in the world and we believe they will prove this once again in Cluj-Napoca. For their fans Vitality is the best CS2 team of all time, and for Stake, they are your 2026 PGL Cluj-Napoca favorites whose odds are set at 2.60 to win the entire tourney. Vitality has started this year on a high note, and so far though January and February have a 100% win rate. apEX, ropz, ZywOo, mezii, and flameZ know their business and we are sure they will prove their worth once again in Romania.
FURIA
The one team that could put a stop to Team Vitality's reign of terror is FURIA, and in the past they've shown that the difference in level is not all that high when two teams get pitted one against the other. Yet, the bookmakers believe that FURIA remains a few steps behind Team Vitality and their Stake odds set at 4.40 to be outright winners reflect this. Their win rate for the year stands at 80%, and while their fans have high expectations for FURIA, realistically they're the second best team in Cluj-Napoca, and it would be a massive surprise if they manage to win this PGL tournament. Yet, if a surprise happens at the PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026, you can bet that FalleN, yuurih, KSCERATO, YEKINDAR, and molodoy are behind it. As FURIA has shown us in the past, they're not a team that should be underestimated.
Team Falcons
Another team that should be viewed with respect are Team Falcons. While trailing a bit behind FURIA and Team Vitality they're entering the upcoming tournament with high aspirations. Winning is not out of the question and if you ask TeSeS, NiKo, m0NESY, kyxsan, and kyousuke they're as good as both FURIA and Vitality. Yes, this team has failed to win any major tournament since bringing in m0NESY and kyousuke, making pressure on them to win this one even higher. Their win rate on the year is low, standing only at 67%, and with two losses in the Grand Finals they last appeared in, major opponents have lost a tad bit of respect for Team Falcons. PGL Cluj-Napoca is a chance for them to make some of the wrongs from the past right, and you can bet that NiKo and m0NESY can beat any opponent on their best day. What needs to be known about Team Falcons is that despite the fact they have lost quite a bit of finals they've entered, it only happens because they got that far. In recent months they have rarely dropped out of any competition before the semi finals. They're more than eager to add some silverware to their trophy cabinet, and with their odds set at 5.00 to win Cluj-Napoca tourney, this dark horse just might be a perfect bet for bettors looking for a surprise outcome of the PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026.
MOUZ
Last year was not too good for MOUZ, at least not according to expectations they've set early on in 2025. MOUZ will defend title at the PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026, as they surprisingly won the last year's edition of the tournament. Despite only winning on trophy, a major one at that, they've been consistent throughout the year. Reaching the playoffs has become the norm for MOUZ, and you can expect that they will do at least that in Romania. Yet, as the defending champions, MOUZ will have all eyes on them for better or worse. The team has shown that they can play good Counter-Strike 2, and that the only thing missing is the finishing touch when the tournament comes to latter stages. Their win rate on the year is low at 58%, and the team knows they need to do better. Brollan, torzsi, Spinx, jimpphat, and xertioN know how to play on the highest level, and MOUZ will be looking to defend their title the best they can. The bookies don't think they can defend it so easily, and their odds set at 7.00 suggest as much. We believe that they could do good in Romania, but only if they hit the right form at the right moment. Much will depend on how they open the tourney. If they demolish PARIVISION in their first duel, MOUZ will be the team to watch. They also, might be your best bet for the first round of the Group stage, as they are favorites with 1.44 odds to win the first series of the event.
PARIVISION
With PARIVISION we are really entering the dark horse territory of teams that have a chance to win the trophy at the PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026. PARIVISION has outside chances, and we really need to separate them as far as quality goes from team Vitality, MOUZ, Falcons, and FURIA. Their odds of 8.50 suggest they're not too far removed from MOUZ and Falcons at least, but we wouldn't push them as one of the top favorites. Yes, they've started the year on a high note with 78% win rate, they fare better than some on this list in 2026. If you've been paying attention, PARIVISION has won the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026, showing that they're not a team that should be underestimated. Yet, we believe that they will be defeated in the first round to MOUZ, and while Jame, xiELO, nota, zweih, and BELCHONOKK know their way on major tourneys, this time around the schedule doesn't work in their favour.
Natus Vincere
NaVi has one of the youngest rosters on the tour. What this signals to us is that they still haven't reached their ceiling. Being better than in 2025 should be an easy feat for NaVi. The team hasn't been consistent in 2025, and they addressed this by adding makazze to their roster. With w0nderful, b1t, Im, and Aleksib still having room to grow, Natus Vincere could go far in Cluj-Napoca. They've started 2026 on a wrong foot, but the year is long, and we can see them being better as more time passes. The first test of their growth is ahead of us, and we're more than eager to see how they'll perform at the upcoming PGL tournament. As far as their odds go, the bookmakers have them as one of the meddling teams, and with their odds set at 13.00 no one really expects for NaVI to go far at this tourney. As far as we go, they could be one of the teams to surprise many if they get a favourable draw once the playoff stages are revealed.
Counter-Strike 2 Betting Markets
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 provides so many legendary duels between some of the top CS2 teams in the world. If you plan on more than just watching this tournament it is better that you get introduced to CS2 betting markets. Yes, they're similar to many other Esports, but if this is your first major tournament covered from this site, you're better off hearing about them once again. Here are the top Counter-Strike betting markets:
Match Winner: this is a simple twoway wager or the so called Moneyline bet. There are no draws in CS2, so with this bet you try and guess the winner.
Map Handicap: betting on the winner of a duel but with a map handicap. When a duel is played as a best of 3 series, when there's a +1 or -1 handicap, a team needs to have a clean 3:0 win to win, while the handicap could lead to a draw as far as the bookmakers are concerned if the duel ends with an 2:1 win.
The two bets from above are primary bets in CS2. Once you get more adept at it, you can check out Total Maps/Kills/Rounds as an Over/Under wager, Map Winner-Threeway (1x2), Correct Score, Wins at Least One Map, Total Maps, Odd/Even, Prop bets, Outright bets, Parlays and same game multibets.
