NAVI Knocks Out World No. 1 Spirit, Face Vitality in Quarterfinals

NAVI advanced to the playoffs at PGL Masters Bucharest 2026 by winning its final match. Team Spirit, listed as the world number one, was eliminated after losing to Natus Vincere in the decisive match of the 2-win, 2-loss pool. NAVI took Cache, Spirit equalized on Dust2, and NAVI closed out the series on Anubis. According to HLTV, this is Spirit's first loss to NAVI since February 2025.

NAVI's group stage was inconsistent. The team started well by beating G2 and FURIA 2-0, but its second map against G2 went to three overtimes. It then lost 2-0 to BetBoom and again 2-0 to Vitality. That second consecutive defeat dropped NAVI into a 2-win, 2-loss pool, where one more loss would end its tournament.

Spirit's path was similar. It lost 1-2 to MOUZ on October 27, won 13-2 on Nuke, then lost 8-13 on Dust2 and 14-16 on Mirage.

Teams eliminated with 2 wins and 3 losses will share ninth to eleventh place and earn $31,250. Each team that loses in the quarterfinals will receive $50,000. On the final group day, Nemiga beat The MongolZ 2-0 and FURIA beat Liquid 2-0, securing the last three playoff spots.

In the playoffs, NAVI was matched with Vitality, which had beaten it in the group stage. Vitality has added Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius to its roster following a decision announced in August, and is not currently playing with its full lineup. The other quarterfinal matchups are Nemiga vs FUT, Aurora vs MOUZ, and BetBoom vs FURIA. NAVI's tournament page describes Bucharest as the second-to-last major before PGL Major Singapore 2026, so a strong run could be significant momentum for all eight teams.