MOUZ among winners as Esports World Cup's CS:GO event begins

The Esports World Cup's $1 million CS:GO tournament kicked off Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with seven teams advancing straight to the playoffs by winning qualification matches.

MOUZ, Team Spirit, Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro, Team Vitality, FaZe Clan and G2 Esports won their respective best-of-three matches to get locked into the eight-team playoff bracket.

The seven losing teams, along with Middle Eastern qualifier JiJieHao, will pick up Thursday with the single-elimination play-in stage, touted as the "resurrection bracket." All matches in the resurrection bracket will be best-of-one, and the winner of the resurrection bracket will nab the final spot in the eight-team playoff.

The winning team will earn a $400,000 top prize along with 1,000 Esports World Cup points for their club.

On Wednesday, MOUZ rallied to beat Sashi Esport 2-1. MOUZ fell 13-11 on Nuke before prevailing 13-7 on Ancient and 13-5 on Mirage.

MOUZ has the fortune of drawing the resurrection bracket winner in the playoff quarterfinals.

Team Spirit dominated MIBR, winning 13-4 on Nuke and 13-3 on Vertigo. Natus Vincere swept FURIA Esports, 13-11 on Nuke and 13-5 on Mirage. Virtus.pro beat Complexity, 13-9 on Anubis and 13-4 on Dust II. Team Vitality swept M80, 13-11 on Vertigo and 13-5 on Dust II. FaZe Clan eked out a sweep of FlyQuest, winning 16-13 in overtime on Anubis and 13-11 on Nuke. Finally, G2 Esports edged The MongolZ, 13-11 on Ancient and 16-13 in overtime on Inferno.

The tournament continues Thursday with eight matches:

--Sashi Esport vs. JiJieHao (play-in quarterfinals)

--FlyQuest vs. FURIA Esports (play-in quarterfinals)

--The MongolZ vs. MIBR (play-in quarterfinals)

--M80 vs. Complexity Gaming (play-in quarterfinals)

--Two play-in semifinals, teams TBD

--Play-in final, teams TBD

--Team Spirit vs. G2 Esports (playoff quarterfinals)

Esports World Cup CS:GO prize pool (money, club points)

1. $400,000, 1,000 points

2. $175,000, 600

3-4. $85,000, 275

5-8. $40,000, 60

9. $25,000, no points

10-11. $15,000, no points

12-15. $10,000, no points

--Field Level Media