Team Vitality book victory at IEM Rio 2026
21 April 2026
From Friday, April 17th, to Sunday, April 19th, the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Rio 2026 event was held, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), as the name implies. It was always going to be a special one as Team Vitality came into the tournament on the brink of making history and that is exactly what they ended up doing. Not only did they win IEM Rio 2026 by beating Team Spirit in the Grand Final, but they also completed their ESL Grand Slam and by doing so, they became the first international esports organization ever to achieve two ESL Grand Slams. And to make it even more impressive, Vitality have done so in back-to-back seasons.
Group Stage loss
Even though Team Vitality started IEM Rio 2026 as one of the big favorites for the prestigious Counter-Strike title, their first blows in Group A were not the most convincing. The French side did beat RED Canids and G2 Esports to make it to the group’s Upper Bracket Final, but they lost it to Team Falcons from Saudi Arabia. Reaching the final was sufficient for Vitality to quality for the Playoffs though, where they were joined in the Quarterfinals by MOUZ, Natus Vincere and Team Spirit.
The eventual champions started the Playoffs with a resounding 2-0 victory over Team Spirit, before beating already qualified FURIA Esports in the Semifinals. Team Falcons got back to action in the Semifinals as well, but it was the final stage for them as they fell 0-2 to Team Spirit. As a result, the Grand Final was between Team Spirit and Team Vitality, and it was the latter who won it. Team Falcons won the third-place match against FURIA.
$ 300.000 prize pool
IEM Rio 2026 was given a $ 300.000 prize pool and $ 125.000 of those $ 300.000 was taken home by champions Team Vitality. Runner-up Team Spirit earned $ 50.000 in prize money, while number three Team Falcons pocketed $ 30.000. Fourth placed FURIA made $ 20.000 in winnings, while numbers five and six made more than $ 10.000 each. Both MOUZ and Natus Vincere left Rio de Janeiro with $ 12.500 in winnings.
ESL Grand Slam
Their recent victory in Brazil means that Team Vitality have now completed the coveted ESL Grand Slam. That means winning four S-Tier events organized by ESL during a window of 10 consecutive events including an IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, or ESL-operated CS Major Championship. Vitality managed to so do by taking home IEM Dallas 2025, the ESL Pro League Season 22, IEM Krakow 2026 and IEM Rio 2026. As a reward, the French esports organizing was given $ 1 million.
In doing so, Vitality also became the first team in Counter-Strike history to win two Grand Slams and the first team in history to do it back-to-back. The French organization is on a simply incredible run and is on a mission to crown itself as the Greatest Team of All Time after achieving the unthinkable in Rio de Janeiro.