The Esports World Cup is wrapping up before long and it saved its Counter-Strike 2 tournament until right near the end, but who can you most reliably bet on to win, and which teams have the best esports betting odds?
The Counter-Strike esports scene was upended at IEM Cologne when Team Vitality lost to MOUZ, ending a streak of non-stop championship runs that dated back to February. Now that the seal is broken, will Counter-Strike 2 return to normal parity? Or is this just a hiccup in the year of Vitality?
| Event | Esports World Cup |
|---|---|
| Start date | August 20, 2025 |
| End date | August 24, 2025 |
| Prize pool | $1.25 million |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue | Boulevard Riyadh City |
This bucks the general trend in Counter-Strike 2 esports where finals are best-of-five matches. The event will also take a page out of PGL’s playbook by having a third-place decider match.
Alongside the prize pool money paid out to players is the Esports World Cup’s club championship. Esports organizations compete across all games hosted at the Esports World Cup by earning points when their sponsored players place well in tournaments. The team that earns the most points wins the club championship.
The Esports World Cup’s Counter-Strike tournament begins on August 20, 2025 at 6 AM EST / 12 PM CET.
Since there is no group stage, the action immediately begins with the playoffs. The tournament wraps on August 24, 2025 with the grand finals and a third-place decider.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Team Vitality | 1.86 |
| Team Spirit | 3.25 |
| MOUZ | 6.0 |
| Team Falcons | 9.5 |
| The MongolZ | 11.0 |
| Natus Vincere | 17.0 |
| FaZe Clan | 41.0 |
| Aurora Gaming | 51.0 |
| Astralis | 67.0 |
| G2 Esports | 101.0 |
| Tyloo | 101.0 |
| Team Liquid | 151.0 |
| Virtus.pro | 151.0 |
| 3DMAX | 201.0 |
| Heroic | 201.0 |
| GamerLegion | 251.0 |
Odds as of August 13 via GG.BET.
While CS2 betting has been fairly easy to predict for most of 2025, IEM Cologne made things much more difficult.
This series of events returned Counter-Strike to normal in some ways, with multiple teams having a credible chance to win the tournament.
Despite not winning IEM Cologne or the BLAST Bounty event, Team Vitality remains the definitive Esports World Cup betting favorite and the odds reflect that status. A single loss in IEM Cologne and a series dropped to The Mongolz hasn’t undone everything Vitality has accomplished throughout 2025.
MUST SEE! Vitality vs MOUZ – HIGHLIGHTS – IEM Cologne 2025 | CS2
Team Spirit sits in second when it comes to outright betting, which is understandable given how it just won IEM Cologne. The team is entering the Esports World Cup in an awkward position however, with Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich reportedly set to replace Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia after the event. It’s easy to imagine this leading to some interpersonal tension or motivation issues at the event.
MOUZ is a surprisingly distant third in its outright odds. MOUZ was the team to finally defeat Vitality and has a winning record against Spirit in 2025, but hasn’t gotten respect from bookmakers, making an interesting potential pick for bettors.
Team Falcons is an interesting option on paper and could be a tempting dark horse, but it’s also a side that you shouldn’t bet on.
Team Falcons
Past that, no team has a particularly good chance. While The MongolZ, Natus Vincere, and FaZe Clan are all very credible teams and could be worth considering for bettors looking to back longer CS2 odds, they face a steep uphill climb.
GG.BET is among the best options for betting on Counter-Strike 2 esports, and that’s still the case with the Esports World Cup.
While many sportsbooks offer esports at this point, GG.BET makes esports its main focus. This means that it has a diverse set of markets to choose from for CS2 at the Esports World Cup, ranging from winner outrights to kill counts for individual players. Sign up using a GG.Bet bonus code today.
Team Vitality is the team to roll with for outright betting in the Esports World Cup Counter-Strike tournament.
While Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and company are coming off losses at IEM Cologne 2025 and the BLAST Bounty tournament, it’s impossible to deny how good Vitality has been for most of 2025. More importantly, there’s no hint of Vitality losing a step. The loss to MOUZ was moreso a matter of MOUZ playing an exceptional match rather than the conclusion of a prolonged skid from Vitality. A loss to The Mongolz was more concerning, but there’s still plenty of reason to believe in this Vitality squad on a stage as big as EWC.
The 1.9 odds on GG.BET speak to this, while still offering a strong return. Look for the squad to return to their winning ways here.
Featured image: EWC Foundation
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