Legacy sweep NAVI 2-0 in Paris to reach the Esports World Cup quarterfinals
The Brazilian team won Inferno 13-9 and Ancient 13-3, with Vinicius "n1ssim" Pereira posting 23 kills and a 2.91 rating on the second map.
Legacy swept Natus Vincere 2-0 in Paris to reach the Esports World Cup 2026 quarterfinals, turning a close finish on Inferno into a one-sided Ancient victory.
Inferno, Legacy’s map pick, began with the Brazilian team taking a 10-2 lead. NAVI responded by winning six of the next seven rounds, but Legacy held on to close the opener 13-9.
Legacy survive NAVI’s Inferno comeback
The opening map featured several big moments from the AWP players, Santino “try” Rigal and Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov. Try also produced one of the map’s key rifle rounds, finding four kills with an AK from a 2v5 situation and pushing Legacy’s early T-side advantage to 6-1.
After Legacy moved ahead 10-2, w0nderful kept NAVI alive with a Glock ace in the second pistol round. He later answered a quick double kill from Andrei “arT” Piovezan by winning a 1v3 with the AWP. His 1.61 rating led the map, but it was not enough to complete the comeback.
Speaking in a post-match interview, NAVI captain Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen said Legacy had simply played better. He pointed to several missed opportunities on Inferno: NAVI stacked three players toward B in the opening gun round and still lost it, failed to stop fast A attacks it had anticipated, and later gave up a 5v2. The early deficit left NAVI chasing the map even after finding more momentum on its T side.
n1ssim takes over on Ancient
Ancient was a different story. Vinicius “n1ssim” Pereira opened the map with a 1v2 USP clutch in the pistol round, then continued to punish NAVI throughout the half.
Legacy built a 10-2 lead before n1ssim found four more kills in the attacking-side pistol. Three rounds later, Ancient was over at 13-3, leaving NAVI no room for another late response.
N1ssim finished the map with 23 kills, a perfect 100.0% KAST, 151.9 ADR, a +20.40% swing, and a remarkable 2.91 rating. His performance gave Legacy the clean finish they needed after NAVI’s fightback on Inferno.
Aleksib also identified n1ssim’s impact as a major problem, saying NAVI could not trade the Legacy player during several important gun rounds. The defeat ended NAVI’s Esports World Cup run.
NAVI turn to BLAST Open Porto
NAVI’s next event is BLAST Open Porto, which arrives less than a week after the Esports World Cup exit. The squad had spent its non-match days at the event practicing across its map pool, but that preparation did not translate into the quarterfinal.
Aleksib said NAVI’s immediate goals are to avoid another quarterfinal elimination, reach the playoffs, and become a stronger team in the process. He urged the squad to arrive twice as prepared, play at twice the level, hold on to its confidence, and keep working through the disappointing result.
Falcons await Legacy in the quarterfinals
Legacy’s next match will be against Falcons in the Esports World Cup quarterfinals. The match is scheduled for August 21 at 15:55. The teams last met in May’s CS Asia Championships grand final, where Legacy won 3-1.
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