ESL Pro League Season 22: Which teams have qualified?

ESL Pro League Season 22: Which teams have qualified?

21 July 2025

The final hurdle before the start of Season 22 of the ESL Pro League has been taken. The biggest professional Counter-Strike 2 league in the world, and one of the biggest events on the annual international esports calendar, is set to resume with its 22nd season at the end of September in Stockholm (Sweden) and we now know which teams will be competing there. The ESL Pro League Season 22 qualifiers have been concluded, so in this article we will take a quick look at the sixteen teams that managed to clinch a spot for the first stage of the competition, which will take place from September 27th, 2025, to October 1st, 2025.

ESL Pro League Season 22 structure

Before we take a look at the qualified teams, it is useful to briefly explain the structure of the ESL Pro League, for these less familiar with the format. The event starts with Stage 1, in which sixteen teams will be fighting for the right to join Stage 2, also known as the Main Event. The top eight from Stage 1 will progress to Stage 2, for which eight teams have already qualified directly. Stage 2 is set to take place from October 3rd to October 7th, 2025.

The best eight teams from Stage 2 will then qualify for the Playoffs, which consists of a single-elimination bracket format contrary to Stage 1 and Stage 2, which are both group stages. The Playoffs start with Quarterfinals, followed by Semifinals and finally the Grand Final. There will also be a Third Place Match.

Stage 1 qualified teams

From the European region, eight teams have qualified for Stage 1 of the ESL Pro League Season 22. These include big names like G2 Esports, Astralis and HEROIC Esports. The remaining five European esports organizations to qualify are GamerLegion, 3DMAX Esports, B8, HOTU and TNL.

The Asian Counter-Strike scene has brought one team to Season 22 of the ESL Pro League. This is Chinese esports organization Lynn Vision. Russian organization Virtus.pro also competed in the Asian qualifiers, though.

With FURIA Esports, Legacy and Fluxo, all South American organizations are from Brazil this year. For the third and final South American ticket, Legacy eventually came out as winners of the South American closed qualifiers, surviving a drop to the lower brackets after a defeat at the hands of Imperial, who they managed to later on in the Grand Final.
Finally, the North American qualifiers have delivered M80 and NRG, while the Oceania region saw Rooster (from Australia) take first place. They will compete with the other fifteen teams for a place in the Top 8 of Stage 1.

Seeded teams for Stage 2

The eight best teams from Stage 1 will join the eight teams who are seeded for Stage 2. These are:

  • Team Vitality – European region (France)
  • MOUZ – European region (Germany)
  • Natus Vincere – European region (Ukraine)
  • Aurora Gaming – European region (Serbia)
  • Team Falcons – Asian region (Saudi Arabia)
  • The MongolZ – Asian region (Mongolia)
  • Team Spirit – Asian region (Russia)
  • FaZe Clan – North American region (United States)
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