ESL unveils IEM Rio 2026 team invites

ESL has unveiled the full list of invited teams competing in the main event, global closed qualifiers, and Americas closed qualifiers for IEM Rio 2026.

Eight of the top ten teams from January’s Valve Regional Standings (VRS) will compete in the main event after FaZe Clan and The MongolZ declined their invitations.

The closed qualifiers for the Tier 1 event take place on January 18th, and feature several notable names from the South American and European scenes. Imperial Esports, Fluxo, BESTIA, and YNG Sharks will compete in the Americas qualifiers, with four teams from open qualifiers joining them.

Notably, paiN Gaming, NRG, and M80 declined invitations to the Americas qualifiers. Elsewhere, Astralis, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and FlyQuest opted against competing in the global qualifiers.

Fnatic, Gentle Mates, and BC.Game are among the teams taking part in the global closed qualifiers. Similar to the Americas qualifiers, four teams from the open qualifiers will earn a place in the closed qualifiers.

Two teams from the global qualifiers and one from the Americas will secure a place at the main event, taking place from April 13th to 19th.

IEM Rio 2026 marks the first time in two years that a Tier 1 Counter-Strike event has taken place in Brazil. The most recent edition of IEM Rio was held in 2022, with NAVI taking home the title.

With several of the world’s best teams making the trip to Brazil, IEM Rio 2026 is set to be another hotly contested Tier 1 event. Below are all of the teams participating across the qualifiers and the main event:

All IEM Rio 2026 matches will be streamed live on ESL’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. Fans wanting to attend the event in-person can head to Ticketmaster to purchase the tickets.