NAVI, FUT, and Astralis take final Playoff spots at ESL Pro League Season 23

A long day of marathon matches saw NAVI, FUT, and Astralis take the final three spots in the Playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 23. After almost two weeks of online Counter-Strike, the event is set to move to LAN in Sweden, where this trio will join the already qualified five teams to fight for the lion’s share of a $1 million prize pool.

NAVI survive a scare against 3DMAX

NAVI were made to wait and fight every step of the way to secure their place in the ESL Pro League Season 23 Playoffs. But when all was said and done, it was another top-eight placing locked in for B1ad3’s team, who required three maps to overcome a 3DMAX team that have overperformed admittedly low expectations at this event.

It was all smiles from NAVI early on in this series. Dust2 looked comfortable, with makazze and w0nderful on top form. It was makazze who blitzed the CT side, while w0nderful took charge and dominated as the sides switched over. They were rewarded with a 13:5 win, and it looked as though it would be plain sailing to the Playoffs.

The script was flipped as 3DMAX found their groove on Inferno. Their own CT side held firm, Ex3rcice and Maka playing starring roles. Their good form endured past the half, and 3DMAX were able to match NAVI’s efforts on Dust2 to lock in their own 13:5.

With Ancient to decide it all, NAVI would require a real team effort to cross the finish line. Every player was able to step up; Aleksib topped the scoreboard with 16 kills in total. Once again, it was the momentum created after a strong first half that made all the difference, with 3DMAX unable to recover in yet another 13:5. Incredible consistency all around, no comebacks allowed. NAVI are headed to Sweden.

Plucky FUT sink G2

Another series, another three-map affair, this time decided by finer margins. G2 will be disappointed to have lost two of these maps by just a single round, a series in which they could (and probably should) have seen off this plucky FUT side in 2:0 fashion.

G2 were off to a flying start to their ESL Pro League S23 Stage 2 decider. They managed to steal away FUT‘s pick of Mirage in comprehensive fashion, a dominant 13:5 win in which the rifling core of MATYS, malbsMd, and HeavyGod were all firing on all cylinders. When those three are shooting hard, there’s very little you can do to stop them, the trio amassing 54 kills between them across 18 rounds of Counter-Strike.

When questions have been asked of this young FUT roster, they’ve often struggled to find the correct answers right at the finish line throughout 2026. The firepower is there, the mental perhaps less so. At least, that has been the story so far. Determined to change that, FUT were able to battle back in a close Dust2, where G2 have had mixed results of late. Despite a more active showing from AWPer SunPayus, it wasn’t enough to prevent FUT from taking a tense 13:11 win to tie up the series. IGL Krabeni stepped up on the other side of the server, showing why he’s considered one of the best young in-game leader prospects we have in the game right now.

Despite their earlier frustrations, G2 looked all set to book their Playoffs berth on the Overpass decider by taking an 8:4 lead into half-time. Their CT side was good, but unfortunately for them, FUT’s was better. Struggles from dem0n were not enough to waste massive CT sides from lauNX, cmtry, and dziugss, the talented trio able to put up 37 kills in one half. G2 were locked out of the bombsites, restricted to three round wins, and when the scoreboard read 13:11 to FUT, out of ESL Pro League Season 23 entirely.

FURIA drop the ball in back-and-forth Astralis series

FURIA have missed out on the Playoffs of an event for the first time in 2026, after falling to a well-drilled and much-improved Astralis in the last match of the ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 2. We saw the best and worst of FURIA in a back-and-forth 2:1 series. When they were good, they were great, but they were often anything but either of those things.

Astralis‘ pick of Nuke started off in style. They raced to an early 10:2 lead on the T-side, a completely insurmountable scoreline that saw them quickly close things out 13:4. Nuke was a real showcase of jabbi and ryu‘s strengths, the old and the new of Astralis working in tandem.

Dust2 was a better showing for FURIA, and for molodoy in particular, who has enjoyed a tougher 2026 when compared to his debut year. He was influential in a 13:9 win, putting up a server-best 20-bomb to help his team tie up the series. It was a much more convincing FURIA here, that should have set them up for success on the decider.

As Inferno kicked off, it was clear from the off that Staehr was feeling good on the server. With a +12.33% round swing and 2.25 rating, he left FURIA shellshocked round after round, a reminder of his obvious and enormous potential. They had no answer on the other side of the server, and Staehr continued to run rampant en route to a 13:4 victory, his teammates merely a supporting act to his leading role.

For this new international Astralis, a Playoffs berth is an excellent result. This is not the end of the world for FURIA, either, who would have been playing with coach sidde in place of FalleN had they made the Playoffs. Still, losing like this, even online, still doesn’t feel great.

The full list of ESL Pro League Season 23 Playoff teams is as follows:

• MOUZ
• Spirit
• The MongolZ
• Aurora
• Legacy
• NAVI
• FUT
• Astralis

There is no time to waste. The Quarter-Finals of ESL Pro League S23 will begin on March 13th, giving the teams just a few days to head to Sweden and prepare for the tough matches ahead.