FUT Esports squeeze into ESL Pro League Season 23 semis

Field Level Media|published: Sat 14th March, 03:57 2026

A custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020.

FUT Esports eked out a 2-1 win over MOUZ on Friday in the quarterfinals of the ESL Pro League Season 23 at Stockholm.

In other action on the event's opening day, Astralis swept Team Spirit 2-0, Aurora Gaming downed Legacy 2-1, and Natus Vincere toppled Legacy 2-0.

The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offense event features a $275,000 prize pool. The single-elimination bracket consists of best-of-three matches until the best-of-five grand final on Sunday. The championship side will receive $100,000.

On Friday, FUT Esports posted a 13-11 win on Dust II before MOUZ replied with a 13-10 victory on Overpass. On the decisive third map, Mirage, FUT Esports prevailed 13-11.

Kosovo's Aulon "Krabeni" Fazlija led FUT with 48 kills, while Lithuania's Dziugas "dziugss" Steponavicius led the team with a plus-1 kill-death differential. Finland's Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo topped MOUZ with 56 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential.

Astralis dumped Team Spirit 13-6 on Dust II, 13-7 on Ancient behind 41 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential from Sweden's Love "phzy" Smidebrant. Belarus' Andrey "tN1R" Tatarinovich finished with 27 kills and a plus-1 K-D differential for Spirit.

After Aurora Gaming captured Dust II 13-4, Legacy took Overpass 13-8. Aurora sealed the series with a 13-6 victory on Inferno.

Ali "Wicadia" Haydar Yalcin notched 50 kills and a plus-14 K-D differential for all-Turkish Aurora Gaming. Bruno "latto" Rebelatto and Eduardo "dumau" Wolkmer each had 39 kills for all-Brazilian Legacy.

Natus Vincere opened with a 13-11 win over The MongolZ on Ancient, then pulled away for a 13-4 triumph on Mirage. Kosovo's Drin "makazze" Shaqiri amassed 43 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential for Natus Vincere. Anarbileg "cobrazera" Uuganbayar topped the all-Mongolian MongolZ with 30 kills and a minus-2 K-D differential.

The Saturday semifinal schedule:

--Astralis vs. Aurora Gaming

--Natus Vincere vs. FUT Esports

ESL Pro League Season 23 prize pool

1. $100,000

2. $55,000

3. $37,500

4. $22,500

5-8. $15,000 -- Team Spirit, Legacy, The MongolZ, MOUZ

--Field Level Media

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