BLAST Open Porto 2026 runs from August 26 to September 6 and moves the tournament out of Lisbon for the first time, Esports.gg reports. Sixteen of the world's top Counter-Strike 2 rosters will compete for a share of a $1.1 million prize pool at BLAST's fourth Portuguese stop, staged immediately after the Esports World Cup 2026.
The event is split across two countries. Group-stage play begins on August 26 at BLAST Studios in Copenhagen and finishes on August 31. The six teams that advance travel to the Super Bock Arena, also known as the Pavilhão Rosa Mota, in Porto for single-elimination playoffs from September 4 to 6. BLAST confirmed the Porto venue in March.
Format and qualification
Group winners take a bye straight to the semi-finals, while second- and third-placed teams enter at the quarter-finals. Every playoff match is a best-of-three apart from the grand final, which is a best-of-five. Twelve of the sixteen spots were handed out by direct invite based on the Valve Regional Standings published on July 6, and the remaining four came through regional qualifiers.
Spirit and Falcons arrive as the two form sides. Spirit come off a win at PGL Astana 2026 that ended a trophy drought, with Danil “donk” Kryshkovets among the most talked-about fraggers in the scene this year, while Falcons are fresh from taking the IEM Cologne Major 2026. Prediction-market data from Polymarket gave Spirit a 23% implied chance of winning the event and Falcons 22%, making them joint favourites.
Bringing BLAST Premier back to Portugal is a special moment for us. Portugal has consistently delivered events with some of the most passionate Counter-Strike fans in the world, and bringing our events to Porto for the first time is another exciting step in a milestone year for BLAST Premier.
BLAST's previous Portuguese events — the BLAST Pro Series in 2018, the BLAST Premier Spring Final in 2022 and the BLAST Open in 2025 — were all held in Lisbon. Broadcasts will run on BLAST Premier's Twitch, YouTube, Kick and TikTok channels with regional language options, and tickets for the Porto playoff days are sold through Tixr, with single-day passes running from €16 to €27 and three-day packages starting at €66.
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