Falcons Face Spirit In PGL Astana 2026 Final
Spirit has made the most of Vitality’s choice to compete at IEM Atlanta by progressing through to the PGL Astana 2026 final. The Russian team has come undone against Vitality on multiple occasions this year, most notably in Budapest and Rio. Astana represents their best chance to win a tournament.
But, to truly benefit from Vitality’s absence, Spirit will have to overcome The Falcons in Sunday’s final.
The Falcons underwent roster changes earlier this year, after a successful 2025, and their progression in Kazakhstan, where they have only lost one match to 9z in the group stages, suggests the changes have been effective.
A Spirited Run
On the surface, Spirit has enjoyed a stronger tournament, winning every match. They beat The Hunz and The Mongolz 2-0 in the group stage and also defeated FURIA 2-1.
From there, they downed G2 2-0 in the quarter finals before besting MOUZ by the same scoreline in the semifinals.
The Falcons Flying
But, the Falcons have also performed well in their run. They lost one game, against the inspired 9z, on the run in, but overcame K27 and Monte 2-0 and The MongolZ 2-1.
From there, they faced off against FURIA, the highest-ranked team entering the competition. A 2-1 win set up a semifinal match with Magic, whom they comfortably dispatched 2-0.
Spirit Vs Falcons
Spirit is considered the strong favourite to win the final. Although the Falcons have a slightly higher global ranking, Spirit has donk, one of the best CS2 players around, finishing the group stage with a 1.63 rating.
They also enjoyed the better run in, and while the Falcons have the better head-to-head, Spirit looks to have enough to walk away with the $512,000 first prize.
The Astana final is best-of-5 and can be streamed on PGL’s YouTube and Twitch channels.
MOUZ Secure Third Place
Earlier in the day, the third-place playoffs saw MOUZ overcome magic 2-0 – potentially a sign of things to come from the newly assembled team.
