NAVI send the defending champions to the lower bracket and book their EWC Round of 16 spot
A clash of champions in Group D, and the more senior one won. NAVI beat The MongolZ 2-1 in the upper-bracket semi-final to secure their place in the Esports World Cup 2026 Round of 16, forcing the reigning champions to fight their way through the elimination route.
The symbolism is hard to miss: the 2024 winners have just made life difficult for the 2025 winners.
The series, map by map
Inferno (13-5), The MongolZ's pick, started well for them with an opening 3-0, but everything shifted once full buys came into play. NAVI locked down on defense, repeatedly preventing the Mongolians from converting early map control into site executions, and closed the half 8-4. After the switch, with the second pistol in hand, the Ukrainians produced a quick 5-1 capped by a makazze quad-kill that ended the map.
Ancient (9-13) was the Mongolian response — and on NAVI's own pick, no less. The MongolZ shot out of the gate on the CT side to 4-0, and although the Ukrainians clawed some back, a tikuak 1v1 preserved his team's lead on the way to an 8-4 half. NAVI leveled at eight after the switch and looked capable of closing the series in two, but The MongolZ found solid attacking rounds — with DarkMeister showing up at key moments — to take the map 13-9 and force a decider.
Mirage (13-8) opened tight, with NAVI narrowly ahead at the half (7-5). Then it broke open: for the first time in the series the pistols weren't split, NAVI seized the momentum and ran riot on the T side. The MongolZ managed only three rounds in the second half.
The numbers: distribution versus drought
The statistic that best explains the result is damning: no MongolZ player finished the series above a 1.00 rating. Not one.
On the other side, b1t was the series' best player with 47 kills, 36 deaths, and a 1.34, closely followed by makazze with 49 kills and a 1.28, with Aleksib posting a solid 1.13. But the interesting part is that NAVI didn't lean on one standout display: iM, w0nderful, and Aleksib all chipped in important rounds across the three maps.
That distribution carries extra value heading into what comes next. In single-elimination playoffs, one bad series from your star sends you home; a team contributing from five fronts is better insulated.
NAVI's dominance in the matchup
The result cements a clear trend. The two sides have now met in 26 series, with 17 wins for NAVI. Their most recent clash came at the Cologne Major 2026, also over three maps, with The MongolZ taking Ancient in overtime before the Ukrainians closed it out on Nuke and Mirage.
NAVI came into this match off a 13-9 win over 3DMAX on Inferno in their opener, completing a flawless 2-0 group-stage run. The team celebrated qualification on social media with a brief announcement that they're through to the playoffs. The MongolZ, by contrast, barely reacted publicly.
The champions on the ropes
For the Mongolians the situation isn't dire, but it is uncomfortable. They arrived in Paris with a notably different roster from the one that won the title last year — with tikuak and DarkMeister making their top-level debuts — and without coach maaRaa, who couldn't travel and is working with the team remotely. Add to that their slide to 14th in the rankings.
They now face paiN Gaming in the lower-bracket semi-final, who arrive from surviving their own elimination match with a 2-1 win over Wildcard. The rules leave no room for interpretation: win and you're in the Round of 16, lose and you leave Paris.
Defending the title remains possible, but the road just got considerably longer.
Source: HLTV, egamersworld, skin.club, Fragster.