Also, discover where to watch the matches.

The IEM Rio Major 2022 is less than 24 hours away. 24 of the world’s best CS:GO teams will be playing to get the chance of winning the Major, the winner’s title and walk away with a slice of the $1.25 million prize pool. This Major is groundbreaking in many ways – not only it is the first Major in South America, but it is also the first to have a live audience throughout the whole event, from the Challengers stage and all the way to the Champions Stage.

The event will start at Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro, where the Challengers and Legends stages will be played. Later, the party and Champions Stage will be at the Jeunesse Arena, where after two weeks, the winner of the IEM Rio Major will be crowned, and the trophy is hefted up.

Who will be playing?

Twenty-four teams from all over the world are now in Rio to start their journey at IEM Rio Major. Like previous Majors, sixteen teams will play in the Challengers stage, where the top eight will meet up with the seeded teams in the Legends stage. From there, the top eight will duke it out in the Champions stage to see who will be the ultimate winner.

The teams are:

Contenders

Challengers
- OG
- Team Vitality
- Evil Geniuses
- Cloud9
- BIG
- Bad News Eagles
- MOUZ
- 9z Team

Legends
- FaZe Clan
- Natus Vincere
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- ENCE
- Sprout
- Heroic
- Team Spirit
- Team Liquid

How will the matches be played?

There will be three stages – Challengers, Legends and Champions, with each stage having its own mechanics of play.

Challengers Stage

16 teams to play in a Swiss System Format
Elimination and Advancement matches are Bo3
All other matches are Bo1
Top eight (8) teams advance to the Legends stage
Bottom eight (8) are eliminated

Legends Stage

16 teams to play in a Swiss System Format
Elimination and Advancement matches are Bo3
All other matches are Bo1
Top eight (8) teams advance to the Champions Stage
Bottom eight (8) are eliminated

Champions Stage

Single Elimination bracket
All matches are Bo3

Showmatch

A show match will be held on 14 November between Team Brazil and Team Sweden. The match will be a Bo5 but will not be counted as part of the main tournament.

Where to watch the action?

Fans can check out the official streams below:

ESL CSGO (English)

Primary stream
Secondary stream

Fans can also check out the latest information on our hub page, accessible HERE.

IEM Rio Major: Check out who is playing at the last Major of 2022