Image: Helena Kristiansson via ESL
G2 silenced all doubts over their new-look roster with the biggest upset of the tournament.
The Esports World Cup (EWC) 2024's Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) event saw its biggest upset in just its second day as 
G2 Esports knocked out tournament favourites 
Team Spirit after a 2-1 slugfest in the Playoff quarterfinals. But before that highlight match, FURIA Esports claimed the last spot in the Playoffs after going through the treacherous Resurrection Stage.
Here's how all the action in Day 2 of the EWC's CS2 tournament played out:
FURIA survive Resurrection Stage to bag last Playoff spot
The day started with the Resurrection Stage, where the losing teams from the Opening Stage join Middle Eastern qualifier winner 
JiJieHao in a treacherous single-elimination bracket with best-of-one matches for the eighth and final spot in the Playoffs.
Brazil's 
FURIA Esports became the last team to advance to the Playoffs after a hard-fought march through the Resurrection Stage. FURIA started their campaign by taking down 
FlyQuest, 13-5, in Nuke before outlasting 
Sashi Esport, 19-15, in a double overtime bloodbath in Nuke once again.
That advanced FURIA to the Resurrection Stage final against 
The MongolZ, who were coming off victories against 
MIBR and 
M80.
In their third-straight Foray in Nuke of the stage, FURIA got off to a strong start on the T side and built up a 8-5 lead in the first half. While MongolZ managed to score five more rounds in the second half, they couldn't stop FURIA from getting five of their own to claim the 13-9 win and the final spot in the Playoffs.
Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato led the way for FURIA in their final match of the Resurrection Stage, notching 20 kills on 12 deaths. The Brazilian squad will now be preparing to face off against 
MOUZ in their first Playoff match.
G2 pull off huge 2-1 upset over Spirit
Still fresh from their victory in the BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, Spirit were seen by many as the biggest contender for the CS2 championship in the EWC. Meanwhile, expectations were rather muted for G2 after their recent roster overhaul that saw Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski replace Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen as in-game leader.
These two squads closed out Day 2 of the EWC's CS2 event with a banger of a three-game quarterfinal slugfest.
G2 entered the series with guns blazing in game one at Mirage, opening the map with four-straight round wins on the T side before ending the first half with a dominant 9-3 lead. Spirit answered with four-straight round wins of their own after the side switch, but G2 then went on a 4-1 run in the next five rounds to close out Mirage with the 13-8 win.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač led the way for G2 in the series opener, notching 18 kills and six assists on 13 deaths. Mario “malbsMD” Samayoa also pitched in with 19 kills and two assists on a map-best 11 deaths.
Game two at Nuke was a double overtime bloodbath that saw Spirit strike back to force the series to a deciding third map. While Spirit won the pistol round, G2 won the next five rounds and were looking like they could sweep the series with a 5-1 lead. However, Spirit clawed their way back to end the half in a 6-6 deadlock.
The second half then saw both teams trade runs, first with G2 winning four-straight to go up 10-6 before Spirit racked off five-straight to take their first lead of the series at 11-10. The trades continued as G2 tied things up in round 22 before Spirit got within map point the next round, only for G2 to then force overtime in round 24.
Throughout all those fights, NiKo repeatedly bested Spirit superstar Danil “donk” Kryshkovets in multiple opening frags. But fortunately for Spirit, Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhtoja and Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov picked up the slack in double overtime, leading the team in winning both overtime periods 2-1 to tie up the series.
Despite letting multiple opportunities to secure the sweep in game two slip past their fingers, G2 were quick to bounce back in the series decider at Ancient. They won the eight of the first nine rounds as the T side, notably holding donk to zero kills in the first seven rounds during that span. While Spirit showed signs of life in the last three rounds of the half, G2 were still in a dominant position up 9-3.
Spirit entered the second half looking like they could spark a comeback by winning the first two rounds. However, G2 were quick to shut them down by round 15 before going on to claim the 13-5 win and knocking Spirit out of the EWC.
MalbsMD led the way in the closeout with 17 kills and six assists on 10 deaths. NiKo also earned the match MVP honour as he racked up a total of 56 kills and 12 assists on 41 deaths throughout the series.
G2 now advance to the semifinals, where they await the winner of the quarterfinal match between 
Team Vitality and 
Virtus.pro.
With the day's results, G2 have guaranteed themselves at least a Top 4 finish as well as $85,000 in winnings. Meanwhile, Spirit bow out in 5th-8th place with $40,000 in consolation.
The MongolZ also make their exit in 9th place and will take home $25,000 while Sashi Esport and M80 finish 10-11th and earn $15,000 for their efforts. Finally, JiJieHao, FlyQuest, MIBR, and Complexity are booted out in 11-15th place with $10,000 in consolation.
