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StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 predictions: Which teams can win in Barcelona?
StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 brings eight teams to Barcelona from Sep. 17–20, with $500,000 on the line and a compact double-elimination bracket that leaves little room for a slow start.
With both Team Spirit and Team Falcons absent, the field is missing the two teams ranked above the leading StarSeries contenders. That leaves MOUZ, Vitality, and FURIA as the obvious favorites, but their chances are not necessarily as close as the names suggest. newsbetting.club
MOUZ enter Barcelona after two consecutive grand final appearances, Vitality return to their usual five-player lineup, and both FURIA and MIBR arrive almost immediately after competing at FISSURE Playground 3 in China.
Overall, my prediction has MOUZ as the strongest pick at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026, with Vitality narrowly behind. Further down the bracket, Aurora and MIBR look capable of making the opening round considerably less predictable than the match odds initially suggest.
Starladder StarSeries Fall 2026 bracket and opening odds
The first round already separates the field into two very different groups:
| Match | Favourite | Odds | No-vig probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOUZ vs. NRG | MOUZ | 1.10 | 84.06 |
| Aurora vs. NAVI | NAVI | 1.82 | 50.81% |
| FURIA vs. MIBR | FURIA | 1.35 | 68.24% |
| magic vs. Vitality | Vitality | 1.10 | 84.06% |
#1. MOUZ have the best combination of form and bracket position
Even with outright odds of 4.00 implying a 25% probability of victory, there is a strong case that MOUZ should be the real team to beat in Barcelona.
The team is ranked third by HLTV and second in the latest Valve global ranking entering the event. More importantly, the new-look lineup has started producing results immediately. MOUZ won BLAST Bounty Season 2 by beating Spirit 3–1 in the grand final and finished second at BLAST Open Porto.
Impressively, their Porto run included wins against Falcons and Vitality before Spirit stopped them 3–1 in the final. With Spirit not attending StarSeries, the one team that actually beat MOUZ during that run has been removed from the equation.
COMEBACK COMPLETE
— BLAST Premier#BLASTPremier @mousesports pic.twitter.com/FvExXs67Px
(@BLASTPremier) September 6, 2026
The Vitality result is especially relevant. MOUZ swept them 2–0 in BLAST Open Porto after entering the match with a dreadful 2–12 head-to-head record (14.3% win rate) against the organization. That win does require some context, however, because Vitality were using Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavicius in place of William ‘mezii’ Merriman, who left on paternity leave.
Their opening match against NRG should be the least complicated of the four favorites. MOUZ have won four of the five maps recorded in their 2026 head-to-head with NRG. Their most recent series at the CS Asia Championships went to three maps, but MOUZ recovered after losing Ancient to take Nuke and Mirage.
Even though NRG have added Håkon ‘hallzerk’ Fjærli and brought Jeorge ‘Jeorge’ Endicott back into the lineup, it does little to challenge MOUZ‘s status as heavy favorites at 1.10.
#2. Vitality remain the biggest threat to MOUZ
Even after their recent dip in form, picking against Vitality at a tournament without Spirit or Falcons still requires some caution.
Vitality’s first half of the year established a standard that nobody else in this field matched, triumphing at five consecutive tournaments and clinching a historic second Grand Slam. They then went three events (four, if you include qualifiers) without reaching the top four before improving to a semifinal finish at BLAST Open Porto.
Notably, that Porto run happened without mezii, with Vitality fielding jL as a substitute while the British rifler was on paternity leave. HLTV currently lists mezii alongside apEX, ropz, ZywOo, and flameZ for the StarSeries opener, with jL confirmed to stand in for apEX during his planned absence at PGL Masters Bucharest.
Dégâts Dégâts Mr @ZYWOO! pic.twitter.com/Ptq6ZLE7De
— Team Vitality CS (@TeamVitalityCS) September 5, 2026
While a return to a normal lineup should help Vitality regain their peak form, Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut remains the best individual player attending StarSeries. The Frenchman carries an impressive 1.27 rating and 0.81 KPR across the previous three months.
Vitality’s 1.10 opening price against magic, therefore, makes sense, although magic are more dangerous than the number might imply.
The European qualifier beat FaZe 2–1 at FISSURE Playground 3, winning long overtime battles on Ancient and Cache. magic followed that with a 2–0 win over PARIVISION before eventually finishing 7th–8th. That said, a magic series win would still be a major upset, though taking a map is much easier to imagine.
Assuming Vitality advances, they would face FURIA, while MOUZ take on NAVI or Aurora. That does not necessarily make Vitality a bad outright prediction, but it does help explain why I prefer MOUZ at the longer price.
#3. FURIA’s recent results make 1.35 against MIBR uncomfortable
FURIA are probably the hardest team in the tournament to price correctly – and their ceiling is obvious. The Brazilian side reached the IEM Cologne Major grand final and later finished fourth at the Esports World Cup. They also sit fifth in HLTV’s ranking heading into Barcelona.
Even so, the team’s recent results have been much less convincing.
FURIA finished 5th–6th at BLAST Open Porto after losses to Spirit and Vitality, then repeated that placement at FISSURE Playground 3. In Suzhou, they opened with victories over GamerLegion and PARIVISION before losing 0–2 to Legacy and 0–2 to G2. Their own Dust2 pick against G2 ended 13–3.
Ficamos nas quartas de final da FISSURE Playground 3.
— FURIA (@FURIA) September 11, 2026
Desempenho abaixo do esperado. Temos alguns dias pra resetar e se preparar pro próximo campeonato, em Barcelonajá na próxima semana.
Obrigado a todos que torceram#FURIACS pic.twitter.com/Bjj7u9otr3
They now have only a few days to move from China to Barcelona.
The bigger issue with the 1.35 opening price is that MIBR played better at the same tournament. MIBR reached the FISSURE Playground 3 semifinals, beating The MongolZ, 9z, and Alliance before losing 2–1 to Legacy. This was despite MIBR adding Martín ‘tomaszin’ Corna with only a week of practice alongside his new teammates.
Although there’s no recorded head-to-head between the current FURIA and MIBR cores, FURIA have the stronger roster and far more Tier 1 evidence to back it up. Even so, the odds still feel too aggressive for a Brazilian derby against a team arriving from a top-four LAN finish.
Despite that, I would still lean FURIA to advance and feel considerably less confident in them at 1.35 than I am in MOUZ or Vitality, both at 1.10. Their outright case is also weaker. At 4.35, FURIA are priced very close to MOUZ despite worse recent form, more difficult travel, and a potential upper-bracket meeting with Vitality right after the opener.
Who will win StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026?
Overall, MOUZ are my pick to win StarLadder StarSeries Season 20 outright.
Vitality probably remain the safest choice if the question is simply which roster has the highest proven ceiling. With mezii returning and ZywOo still performing at an elite level, they could easily rediscover the form that made them dominant earlier in 2026. However, the real difference is the bracket.
MOUZ open the bracket against NRG before moving onto the NAVI–Aurora side of the draw. Vitality should beat magic, but then have to deal with either FURIA or an increasingly interesting MIBR roster. Combined with MOUZ‘s recent victory over Vitality and consecutive grand final appearances, that is enough to move them narrowly ahead in my predictions.
— StarLadder CS2 (@StarLadder_CS) September 11, 2026
Check out the StarLadder StarSeries Season 20 Main Event bracket! Where will the toughest battles be?
After all the battles, it comes down to a Bo5 Grand Final.#StarSeries20 pic.twitter.com/tgyMkvvxNb
The outright price drastically strengthens the argument. Bookmakers are currently offering around 4.00 on MOUZ compared with 3.00 on Vitality. This is a noticeably bigger return despite there being relatively little separating the two on current form.
Behind them, FURIA remain the obvious third contender but arrive with enough recent warning signs that we would hesitate at 4.35. Aurora are the best dark-horse option, although their bracket makes a full title run difficult.
My projected final is MOUZ vs. Vitality, with MOUZ narrowly favored to leave Barcelona with the StarSeries Season 20 trophy.
Disclaimer: All odds and statistics are accurate as of Sep. 14, 2026, and are subject to change. These predictions are provided for reference only and should not be interpreted as betting advice. Gambling involves risk. Please bet responsibly and only with money you can afford to lose.
The post StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 predictions: Which teams can win in Barcelona? appeared first on Esports Insider.
Chiefs learn Confed Cup opponents
Kaizer Chiefs will take on Zambia’s Red Arrows in the final qualifying round for the group stages of the 2026/27 Caf Confederation Cup.
Red Arrows take aim at Chiefs
Arrows beat Madagascar’s FC Rouge 2-0 in Mauritius on Sunday to complete a 4-0 aggregate win and set up a meeting with Amakhosi. Fernando Da Cruz’ Chiefs side received a bye into the final round of qualifying.
The Chiefs-Red Arrows two-legged tie will take place over the weekends of October 16-18 and October 23-25.
Zambian forward Ackim Mumba was the hero for ‘The Airmen’ on Sunday, netting both goals at the Cote D’Or National Sports Complex.
Chiefs, meanwhile, will take on Golden Arrows on Sunday at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, in their final Betway Premiership match before the international break.
Da Cruz’ side are unbeaten in six Premiership matches, but that includes three draws, the latest of which came against Polokwane City at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.
Chiefs took the lead through Lebohang Maboe, who was making his 200th league appearance. But Giovanni Philander’s second half corner squirmed through the grasp of Brandon Petersen to earn City a point.
‘I’m looking forward to many more’
“It’s been a very long while. This is a milestone for me personally. I’m disappointed in the result today, but we’ll just take the point,” Maboe told SuperSport TV after picking up the Man-of-the-Match Award.
“I knew coming into this season I had to be a lot more involved in the final third, getting goals and making assists. So, I’m happy that it’s coming to life now, and I’m looking forward to many more.”
This season is going less swimmingly for Petersen, who is battling after such a successful 2025/26 campaign. Former Chiefs goalkeeper William Shongwe has criticised Chiefs for letting Rwandan ‘keeper Fiacre Ntwari join Kruger United on loan.
“He has some experience, and he was going to be a good option for the coaches. Just his presence was going to provide some competition for Petersen,” Shongwe told FarPost.
“Naturally, in such a situation, we will be talking about competition in the Chiefs goalkeeping department. I don’t know the idea behind it and what made the coaches make the decision to loan out the Rwandan goalkeeper, but I think it was not a well-thought-out decision, as we can see.”
Marcelo Brozovic s’engage avec Al-Sadd
Marcelo Brozović a trouvé un nouveau défi après son départ d’Al-Nassr. Libre depuis la fin de son contrat avec le club saoudien, le milieu croate de 33 ans rejoint officiellement Al-Sadd.
Le club qatari a conclu un accord portant sur deux saisons, avec un contrat courant jusqu’en juin 2027. Une option permet également de prolonger l’engagement d’une année supplémentaire, soit potentiellement jusqu’en juin 2028.
Après trois saisons en Arabie saoudite, Brozović va donc poursuivre sa carrière dans le championnat qatari. Passé notamment par l’Inter Milan, où il s’était imposé comme un cadre du milieu de terrain, l’international croate apportera son expérience à Al-Sadd.
The post Marcelo Brozovic s’engage avec Al-Sadd appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.
Hansen: Boks got the rub of the green
Steve Hansen reckons the Springboks earned the favour of the officials over the course of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series that left the All Blacks with plenty to work on.
The World Cup-winning Kiwi coach shared his thoughts on the latest episode of the Rugby Unity podcast, after Rassie Erasmus’ men beat New Zealand 43-28 in Baltimore on Saturday to secure a 3-1 series win.
He touched on the concept and value of the eight-match tour, the Kiwis winning five successive games that included the first Test before the Boks bounced back to claim bragging rights.
MORE: JK, Matfield bleat about Baltimore ref
“You see the two top teams in the world – teams that have got great rivalries – play each other once and then it’s forgotten,” Hansen said.
“But when you have a tour like they’ve had, you get to see them improve …. It becomes a battle in its own right.
“When you break it down, South Africa were just too good in the end. In probably every Test other than the first one, there were just moments – whether it was three or four moments in the Test – that swung it their way.
“They got a couple of rubs of the green, maybe in the last one with some of the refereeing decisions,” the former All Blacks boss added.
“But when you’re going forward and playing well, you normally get those rubs of the green, so you’ve just got to take it on the chin.”
PLUS: Rassie, Daan sport fresh chiskop look
Hansen highlighted the set-piece, high ball and breakdown as key focus areas for Dave Rennie and co going forward.
“There are probably three areas I think we need to challenge ourselves on,” he said.
“South Africa are very good at getting over the ball.
“I thought our scrum on our ball was OK, but on their ball we didn’t challenge them enough. There were a lot of penalties in that area that allowed them to get into driving maul situations where they eventually scored tries.
“We haven’t mastered the high ball as well as they have. We moved the lineout around a little bit, made their big fellas have to move and chase us. When we did that, we got clean ball, but we were still too slow off the ground when going into a tempo race with them.
“Everything that’s there that we need to work on is very fixable, and very quickly.”
EX-ALL BLACKS: Boks a step ahead of everyone
Photo: Michael Franken/Michael Franken Photography
The post Hansen: Boks got the rub of the green appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Five boxes the Springboks ticked against All Blacks
As the Springboks take a short break before facing the Wallabies in two weeks they can savour winning their first full-length All Blacks tour since 1996.
The Springboks showed why they have been the dominant force in rugby in recent years, reclaiming the world No 1 ranking after their defeat at Ellis Park with three consecutive wins in Cape Town, Soweto and Baltimore to win the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 3-1.
Here are five boxes the South African team ticked during the series.
Scrum dominance
Without doubt, the one department the Springboks have beaten all opposition in in recent years.
As scrum coach Dan Humaan said, the scrum is part of South African rugby culture and so part of its people’s culture.
The Springboks dominated the set-piece in the first Test until one penalty finally went against them, for prop Gerhard Steenekamp “walking around” the scrum. Momentum turned, and the Boks lost that one game in the series.
Controversy followed as a narrative emerged about the Springboks allegedly scrumming illegally, and Andrew Gardner simply refused to referee the scrums in the second Test, which the All Blacks collapsed on several occasions.
Referee Nika Amashukeli was less intimidated and refereed the scrums well in the third Test, which All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said were fair, even though the Springboks found dominance, winning many scrum penalties and being awarded a penalty try once.
The scrum dominance continued in the fourth Test.
Supremacy in lineouts
The Springboks got the upper hand in the lineouts from as early as the second Test in Cape Town, and held onto it for the remainder of the series.
It will be a sore point for the All Blacks, who failed to find an answer despite the presence of some experienced and quality hands, and that of last year’s World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the year, lock Fabian Holland.
Test centurion, hooker Codie Taylor, and half-centurion lock Patrick Tuipulotu were even taken out of the matchday 23 altogether, with Holland also moved to the bench, as Rennie desperately sought an answer between Tests two and three.
Goal-kicking
Cheslin Kolbe has become the unlikely hero off the tee this season, slotting all 11 of his kicks in the first two Tests.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok, and even scrumhalf Morné van den Berg stepped up in the third and fourth Tests to provide fairly reliable backup options, even without the presence of 2023 World Cup hero Handré Pollard.
These players, with U20 stars Vusi Moyo and Yaqeen Ahmed in the flanks, bode well ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Breakdowns
The Springboks struggled at the breakdown in the first Test, being surprised by the All Blacks’ tactic of ripping the ball in many of the tackles.
This improved as the series went on, and the Springboks gained better control of the breakdown, even enacting some important turnovers of their own in the latter Tests.
Malcolm Marx remains a key breakdown stealer, but there were other Bok players as well who got in on the act over the series.
Defence
Like the breakdowns, the Springboks struggled in defence in the wide channels, especially in the first Test, but improved as the series progressed.
Still, it was not until the fourth Test that they finally scored more tries than their opponents (six tries to four).
Up until then, the Springboks had lost five tries to one at Ellis Park, won three tries to four in Cape Town and won four Tries apiece in Soweto.
Erasmus was correct when he said scoring tries was not the only way to win matches, but he’ll be glad his side ticked the box in Baltimore in an area they needed to improve urgently.