North America's presence at the Esports World Cup has taken a significant hit after both Team Liquid and NRG were knocked out in the first playoff round of the LAN qualifier. The region will now be represented only by M80, Wildcard, and FaZe Clan's Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken.
Both squads had navigated the group stage without major issues, but when playoff intensity ramped up, they couldn't maintain their momentum. The elimination hits particularly hard for Liquid, who entered with elevated expectations following their BLAST Bounty showing. With this qualifier loss and an underwhelming August VRS position, their remaining opportunities this season look increasingly thin.
Liquid's campaign ended with a 2-1 defeat to 1win. The Russian side dominated Dust2, racing to a 9-0 lead and closing out 13-5. Liquid responded on their Anubis pick, jumping ahead 9-1 and securing a 13-6 victory to force a decisive third map. On Cache, despite winning the opening pistol, Liquid couldn't build momentum as 1win established a 9-3 half and finished 13-7.
NRG faced a similar fate against Phantom. After dropping Ancient 13-7, NRG bounced back on their Mirage pick with a dominant 8-1 stretch, ultimately winning 13-10 to stay alive. The decider on Inferno saw NRG take the pistol, but Phantom responded with an eight-round surge to build a 9-3 advantage. Despite a second-half push from NRG, Phantom closed it out 13-8.
With major events like FISSURE Playground 3 and ESL Pro League Season 24 invites still pending, neither team has confirmed tournaments scheduled until September, though additional appearances are expected soon.
