CS2 Esports World Cup betting tips & predictions – Day 1

The heavily anticipated Counter-Strike 2 Esports World Cup kicks off on Wednesday, August 20, welcoming 16 squads who will begin their quest for the largest slice of the US$1.25 million prize pool.

The event will play out in a single-elimination bracket, leaving no room for error and ensuring a few upsets as well as many excellent betting opportunities to explore. Here you can find our top CS2 picks for the first day of action at the 2025 Esports World Cup.

NATUS VINCERE vs 3DMAX

Best Odds: NAVI -333.33 at BetOnline | 3DMAX +240 at SportsBetting
When: August 20, 2025 | 14:00 AST
Watch Live: Twitch

Natus Vincere are expected to start their EWC 2025 campaign with a win as they face off against 3DMAX for the second time since June, when NAVI defeated the French squad 16-14 during the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

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  Fast Payouts

Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and his crew ended the Major in the quarterfinals and then advanced to the semifinals at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2025. However, they failed to impress during the BLAST Bounty Fall qualifiers, falling to Astralis in the second round.

3DMAX have also not found much success of late, but they showed some signs of life in Cologne with wins against MIBR, TYLOO, and GamerLegion. While they are unlikely to win this, the outsiders have done enough to suggest they can pinch a map at least.

GAMERLEGION vs THE MONGOLZ

Best Odds: GL +333 at SportsBetting | MongolZ -500 at BetOnline
When: August 20, 2025 | 14:00 AST
Watch Live: Twitch

The MongolZ enter Esports World Cup 2025 as one of the dark horses to go all the way. They have shown excellent form in the last two months, with two runner-up finishes at the Austin Major and BLAST Bounty Fall. However, the latter could work against the Mongolian outfit, as they’ve had little to no time to rest ahead of their trip to Saudi Arabia.

Even with this handicap, The MongolZ are unlikely to struggle against GamerLegion, who have been very shaky when faced with elite teams. With no notable victories to their name and just eight games in the last month, GamerLegion will need a miracle to upset the Major semifinalists.

ASTRALIS vs TYLOO

Best Odds: Astralis -175.44 at BetOnline | TYLOO +125 at BetOnline
When: August 20, 2025 | 17:15 AST
Watch Live: Twitch

Astralis posted a couple of very promising results ahead of IEM Cologne 2025, with back-to-back runner-up finishes at PGL Astana and FISSURE Playground #1. Their campaign in Germany ended early, however, and they only managed to reach the quarterfinals at BLAST Fall Bounty after that.

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  The bookies' bookie

TYLOO should present a lesser challenge for the Danish squad; however, the Chinese team have experience facing Astralis, who they beat 3-1 at FISSURE Playground #1.

There is no reason for Astralis to be viewed as favorites. The value is with the underdogs.

TEAM VITALITY vs TEAM LIQUID

Best Odds: Vitality -1428.57 at SportsBetting | Liquid +650 at BetOnline
When: August 20, 2025 | 17:15 AST
Watch Live: Twitch

The best Counter-Strike 2 betting sites have Team Liquid priced as massive underdogs for this series, which does not sound right. Even though Vitality are the team to beat at the 2025 Esports World Cup, they struggled taking down Keith “NAF” Markovic and co. last Friday in the BLAST Bounty Fall quarterfinals.

The game ended with 16-13, 19-16 in favor of Team Vitality, who had to dig deep to come out ahead. While the Bees proved themselves as the better team on that day, Liquid should have won at least one map.

For this game, we’re offered +126 on Liquid to complete that task, which is hard to pass on.

FAZE CLAN vs AURORA GAMING

Best Odds: FaZe -108.7 at BetOnline | Aurora -120.48 at SportsBetting
When: August 20, 2025 | 20:30 AST
Watch Live: Twitch

FaZe Clan and Aurora Gaming have both been struggling to catch up with elite CS2 teams in recent months. The Turkish squad performed better in the recent BLAST Bounty Fall, where they made the quarterfinals, but that hardly indicates that they are the better team.

However, Aurora faced FaZe at the end of July during IEM Cologne and won with a convincing 2-0 sweep (13-10, 13-1). There has been no noticeable improvement in the performances of either team since, so a similar result is to be expected.

HEROIC vs TEAM SPIRIT

Best Odds: HEROIC +500 at BetOnline | Spirit -909.09 at BetOnline
When: August 20, 2025 | 20:30 AST
Watch Live: Twitch

HEROIC will have a mountain to climb when they face off against the surging Team Spirit, who won the last two S-Tier tournaments: BLAST Bounty Fall and IEM Cologne.

While the packed schedule could interfere with Spirit’s preparation for the Esports World Cup, they are in exceptional form and loom as Vitality’s main threat for the EWC 2025 trophy. HEROIC, on the other hand, have a long way to go before they can consider competing for big-event titles.

Team Spirit swept HEROIC in Germany just over two weeks ago and are more than capable of reproducing that success.