Games of the Future 2026: Team KZ defeats Liga Pro Team to win Phygital CS2 in Astana

The Kazakh squad secured the trophy along with the $50,000 first-place prize pool after five days of competition combining Counter-Strike 2 and laser tag.

Local favorites Team KZ were crowned the new Phygital Shooter CS2 champions at the Games of the Future 2026, defeating Liga Pro Team 2-1 in the grand final at the Beeline Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh squad secured the trophy along with the $50,000 first-place prize pool after five days of competition combining Counter-Strike 2 and laser tag.

Home Crowd Celebrates Team KZ's Grand Final Victory

After topping their group and posting multiple 3-0 sweeps throughout the tournament, Team KZ faced their toughest test in the grand final against Liga Pro Team.

Team KZ took the opening CS2 map before Liga Pro Team responded in the physical arena, utilizing their laser tag expertise to tie the series 1-1. On the deciding CS2 map, both teams traded rounds in a tight contest before Team KZ secured the final eliminations to seal the victory.

"We knew Liga Pro Team had the advantage in laser tag. They are a top-ranked laser tag team, and we knew we didn't really have a chance there," said Ruslan Borzhikov of Team KZ. "So, we focused on Counter-Strike and believed that we could win. Thank you, everyone!"

Minsk House Claims 3rd Place Over Former Champions NOVAQ

In the bronze-medal match, Minsk House swept 2025 champions NOVAQ 2-0, securing third place and a $20,000 prize.

Minsk House dominated both the CS2 and laser tag stages, repeating their performance from the group stage where they had previously defeated NOVAQ 3-0.

"We were kind of confident in our victory today because we managed to beat NOVAQ in group stage 3-0," said Ihar Saladkou of Minsk House. "Today they surprised us a lot with big bans on Counter-Strike, but we still managed to win."

Final Phygital Shooter CS2 Standings:

1st: Team KZ ($50,000)
2nd: Liga Pro Team
3rd: Minsk House ($20,000)
4th: NOVAQ

Games of the Future 2026 Concludes August 9

The Games of the Future Astana 2026 wraps up on Sunday, August 9, with finals across the remaining disciplines:

MOBA Mobile: Selangor Red Giants faces Aurora Gaming for 3rd place, followed by the grand final between ONIC and Bigetron by Vitality (16:00 local time).
Phygital Football: Club Holcattes meets FC OLYMPIC PHYGITAL for 3rd place (16:30 local time), followed by the grand final between defending champions Quetzales-Armadillos and NS Team (18:00 local time).

All matches will be streamed live globally on Phygital+ as well as regional media networks including BIGG TV, Fox Sports Mexico, StarTimes, ESR TV, Play TV, Unbeaten, and QazSport.