CDL 2026 Stage 1 Qualifiers Week 5 betting predictions – Friday, January 23

The Call of Duty League (CDL) 2026 Stage 1 Major Qualifiers enter the final week of action on Friday, January 23, with two fixtures, as OpTic Texas clash with Carolina Royal Ravens, followed by a match between Toronto KOI and Paris Gentle Mates.

With all three teams looking to end the qualifiers strong and prepare for Major 1, Friday’s affairs promise a pair of close battles and a couple of CoD betting opportunities to explore on the best esports bookmakers.

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OPTIC TEXAS vs CAROLINA ROYAL RAVENS

OpTic Texas started the CDL 2026 Stage 1 Major Qualifiers well. But like many other top contenders, they’ve started to slip over the last two weeks. They lost to FaZe Vegas in Week 3 and enter the final week of play following a 1-3 loss against Los Angeles Thieves.

Carolina Royal Ravens are the complete opposite. They started the stage 0-2, but have since won three straight games, beating Miami Heretics, G2 Minnesota, and Toronto KOI. The improvement is noticeable; however, it is also fair to say that OpTic will be their toughest test yet.

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  Fast Payouts

Even though the Carolina Royal Ravens deserve praise for their recent performances, OpTic to win by at least two maps at -163.93 is hard to pass up.

TORONTO KOI vs PARIS GENTLE MATES

The final game of the day is one of the most exciting ones of the week, as two limping teams clash in the arena. Toronto KOI and Paris Gentle Mates got off to a strong start to the stage, as both have managed a 3-1 record over the first three weeks of play. But recently, both squads have started to struggle.

Paris Gentle Mates needed five maps to defeat Cloud9 New York and then lost to Riyadh Falcons, whereas Toronto KOI enter Week 5 following a 1-3 loss against Carolina Royal Ravens.

With Toronto KOI, it’s easy to pinpoint their most significant issue – Search & Destroy. On the other side, Paris Gentle Mates have no clear weakness. They simply haven’t been playing well.

Form-wise, the two outfits look equal. While Paris Gentle Mates can take advantage of Toronto KOI’s weak S&D, they need to show more as a unit for it to make sense for the best CoD betting sites to price them at -175.44 favorites.