FURIA have confirmed their place at the IEM Rio 2023 CS:GO Playoffs, and the Brazilian team has the potential to cause mayhem on the big stage.

With an early run of fnatic, FaZe Clan, and Cloud9, FURIA was certainly not handed an easy bracket. That didn’t stop them from running rampant, becoming the only Brazilian roster to qualify for the IEM Rio 2023 Playoffs. Swift exits for the other Brazilian teams, MIBR and Imperial, saw added pressure on FURIA, who responded with ease.

FURIA IEM Rio 2023 run has been impressive. Credit: IEM on Twitter

The Brazilian Crowd

Brazil has always been a home for CS:GO. Built by giants like FalleN and fer, the scene there remains as strong as ever. It’s a massive part of the reason that Rio seems to be becoming a staple of professional CS:GO tournaments, and we should see plenty more there in years to come.

We saw the impact a Brazilian home crowd can make at last year’s IEM Rio Major 2022. There, FURIA made a huge impact, with a Semi-Final run that represented the team’s best-ever Major performance. There were times when it seemed as though the crowd single-handedly carried the FURIA CS:GO team across the line in some rounds. A convincing reverse sweep against NAVI was the best it got for the team, before crashing out against a Heroic team at the top of their game.

From that point on, the crowd at the last IEM Rio tournament seemed to die off. Even the Grand Final between Outsiders and Heroic didn’t seem to attract the same sort of energy and atmosphere as any FURIA match in that CS:GO tournament.

When they take to the playoffs, the FURIA CS:GO team are sure to be greeted once again as gods in pursuit of glory. If they’re to have any hope of lifting the IEM Rio 2023 CS:GO trophy, they’ll need the fans to be every bit as loud as in the Major to give them that extra 5% boost. If they do manage to go all the way, the atmosphere inside the Jeunesse Arena is sure to be remarkable.

The pain of the IEM Rio Major 2022 is behind FURIA. Credit: Michal Konkol | © ESL

FURIA’s Run So Far

When the FURIA CS:GO roster arrived at the tournament, they didn’t exactly come as underdogs of IEM Rio 2023. There are some top teams missing from this one, so the gap was there for the Brazilians to make a strong run.

First up was fnatic, who arrived at the IEM Rio 2023 CS:GO tournament on a high, after qualifying for the Paris Major in convincing 3-0 fashion. It took overtime in the best-of-one, but the FURIA CS:GO roster emerged victorious. 19-15 was the score, after a flawless overtime.

Up next was FaZe Clan, who have had an emotional rollercoaster over the last four weeks. From an Intel Grand Slam win, to scraping through to the Paris Major in the Last-Chance Qualifier, the team have played a lot of CS:GO tournaments lately. That couldn’t stop FURIA from dominating 2-0, with two matches that truthfully were never really close. It’s a great base to build from going into the Playoffs, regardless of the result against Cloud9 in the Upper Bracket Final.

The Man of the Moment

The strength of their run has been largely down to the individual brilliance of KSCERATO. On current form, you’d be hard-pressed to argue against him being the rifler in the world, with only NiKo and Twistzz providing real competition at the moment.

His fnatic showing was a solid-if-subdued affair, but it was against FaZe where he really came into his own. Across both maps, he went 44-24, with an ADR of 92.9. It was huge impact at a huge moment. His reward is the guarantee of that incredible Brazilian crowd.

There’s a feeling that since the Rio Major, the FURIA CS:GO team have somewhat underperformed, relying on KSCERATO for results. With his team finding some impact at the right time, it’s the perfect opportunity for the team to become the first Brazilian roster to win an IEM event since SK Gaming, all the way back in 2017’s Sydney.

FURIA’s IEM Rio 2023 Highlights

The FURIA CS:GO roster have already dropped some incredible plays at the IEM Rio 2023 CS:GO tournament – here are some of our favorites so far!

Where To Watch IEM Rio 2023 CS:GO Matches

The best place to catch IEM Rio 2023 CS:GO games is on the official ESL Twitch channel. At esports.net, we’re covering the entire tournament with daily coverage of all the biggest CS:GO matches coming up.