Shock exits in the Phygital Shooter semifinals at GOTF 2026

It was semifinals day in the Phygital Shooter CS2 presented by Yandex Go competition at the Beeline Arena in Astana – and it lived up to its billing. Now that all the matches were survive-or-die, the teams were determined not to leave anything in their lockers.

Could Team KZ overcome current Phygital Shooter champions, NOVAQ? Would the world’s number two CS2 team, Minsk House, overcome legendary Liga Pro Team? We were going to find out.

Heads up – semifinals work differently from the group stages. Now, a single CS map is played first before the teams move to the laser tag arena. If they are tied 1-1 afterwards, they go back to play a final CS map to decide the match.

So now you know that, let’s find out who died and who survived.

Team KZ 2-1 NOVAQ

This match-up saw the reigning champions up against one of the strongest teams in the competition so far. Played on Dust2, it was a close battle with the lead switching several times. However, by the halfway point, Team KZ were up 8:4 and extended it to 12:4 before NOVAQ snatched a point back. By then, nothing was going to stop Team KZ who finished off the map with a 13:4 win.

Switching to the laser tag field, Team KZ struggled as they have during earlier laser tag rounds. NOVAQ strolled to a 6:0 victory – and took the first semifinal to a third map, Nuke.

Jumping straight into Nuke, NOVAQ brought the same energy they showed in laser tag, taking an early lead to 2:0. However, Team KZ stepped up to shut down NOVAQ’s progress and retook the lead. Momentum switched between the teams – after 16 rounds it was 9:7 to Team KZ. From there, Team KZ took total control – securing the last game 13:9 and marching into the final.

“We’ve achieved our minimum objective by reaching the final. We approached this match with full focus and without underestimating our opponents. We’re very happy with the result, but our attention is already on tomorrow’s final, and we’re preparing for it.” – Ruslan Borzhikov, Team KZ

Minsk House 0-2 Liga Pro Team

Minsk House needed to deliver a strong win on their chosen map Nuke, to counter the expected domination of Liga Pro Team in the laser tag stage. But Liga Pro Team started strong, racing to a 6:0 lead. Heading into the halfway point, they had strengthened their position to 9:3 and from there were invincible – taking the map 13:4.

To stay in the match, Minsk House would have to deliver their best performance of the competition on the laser tag stage. They started strong, taking the first round and surprising Liga Pro Team. But after that there was nothing that Minsk House could do to contain them. Liga Pro Team took the next six rounds for a 6:1 win and sealed their place in the final.

"This was probably the toughest opponent in the entire tournament for us. Tomorrow will be tough, especially in the digital rounds, but I think we can handle it. We’ll just make sure we can play with focused minds tomorrow.” – Andrei Maliarov, Liga Pro Team.

Final day looms

With the reigning champions being knocked out, this year’s title will be taken by either Team KZ or Liga Pro Team. Tomorrow’s match is expected to be a blockbuster battle, with both teams having dominated the competition to date.

Before that, NOVAQ and Minsk House will do battle for third place, where the displaced champions will be aiming to salvage some glory.

Where and when to watch

All the final day’s action for Phygital Shooter CS2 presented by Yandex Go starts at 16:00 local Astana time and can be watched live on Phygital+, the home of the Games of the Future 2026.

You can also see the semifinals of MOBA Mobile presented by Freedom and Phygital Football presented by Samruk-Kazyna, alongside the Phygital Fighting presented by Kazzinc competition.

Alongside Phygital+, the Games of the Future 2026 is being broadcast by leading media partners across the globe, including Fox Sports Mexico (Mexico), StarTimes (Africa), BIGG TV (France/Worldwide), ESR TV (USA/Worldwide), Play TV (Brazil), Unbeaten (Australia), and QazSport (Kazakhstan), ensuring fans around the world can follow the action as it unfolds.