Fnatic and BC.GAME have failed to qualify for IEM Rio 2026 following early eliminations in the online global qualifiers.
The pair lost decisive matches in the 16-team closed qualifier, which is taking place from January 21st to 23rd, 2026.
Disappointment For Fnatic
Following a first-round exit from the BLAST Bounty Season 1 online qualifiers, Fnatic had an opportunity to rebound immediately in another Tier 1 qualifier. However, the team was outclassed in its first upper bracket map against KOLESIE, a team that advanced from the open qualifiers.
A 13-9 defeat on Ancient followed by a 13-2 loss on Inferno sent Fnatic into the lower bracket, where GenOne, another team from open qualifiers, would await.
GenOne’s superior defence held firm on Ancient, securing a 13-4 win to put Fnatic immediately on the back foot. The black and orange responded on Anubis with a 13-8 win, sending the best-of-three to a Dust II decider.
Overtime was required to separate the two sides on Dust II, but GenOne emerged victorious with a 16-14 scoreline to secure a surprise 2-1 series victory and eliminate Fnatic.
The disappointing run of form comes after the organisation signed Pavle ‘Maden‘ Bošković as its new entry fragger on January 9th.
BC.Game Misses Out
After acquiring the SAW core during the off-season, BC.Game looked to capitalise on a new roster capable of scoring solid results in Tier 1 tournaments. Despite this, the team was dropped into the lower bracket byf Ursa, another team from the open qualifiers.
To remain in the qualifier, BC.Game faced off against Team Nemesis in a lengthy best-of-three, disrupted by Valve launching an update introducing a wealth of changes to Anubis.
BC.Game struck first with a 13-6 win on Nuke, but couldn’t build any momentum. Team Nemesis responded with a 13-9 Inferno win to level the series, before closing out the series with a 13-11 win on Ancient to send Oleksandr ‘s1mple‘ Kostyliev’s team packing.
IEM Rio 2026 Closed Qualifiers
With two notable names out of the running, the IEM Rio 2026 closed qualifiers continue. The likes of Gentle Mates, 9INE, and BetBoom Team remain in contention to earn one of two places in the main event taking place in the Brazilian city from April 13th to 19th.
Fans can tune into the action across ESL’s Twitch and YouTube channels to see which teams join some of the world’s best in Rio.
The post Fnatic and BC.GAME crash out of IEM Rio 2026 qualifiers appeared first on Esports Insider.
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