(Photo credit: Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Team Spirit and 9z Team became the first two squads to advance to the playoffs at the $800,000 PGL Astana 2026 following 2-1 victories Monday in Kazakhstan.

Spirit took down FURIA and 9z outlasted MOUZ in the Round 3 High Matches. That put Spirit and 9z at 3-0, the first two teams to get the three wins necessary to advance.

FURIA and MOUZ will get up to two more cracks at it, as they'll appear in the Round 4 High Matches on Tuesday before Round 5 comes Wednesday.

The group stage runs through Wednesday, with all matches best-of-three in a Swiss System format and the top eight teams advancing to the playoffs. The single-elimination playoffs are best-of-three matches until the best-of-five grand finale on May 17, with the winner taking home $256,000.

On Monday, Spirit sandwiched a 13-8 win on Dust II and a 13-11 result on Mirage around a 16-12 overtime setback to FURIA on Overpass. Russia's Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets led all players with 71 kills for Spirit.

9z beat MOUZ 13-10 on Nuke, fell 13-4 on Inferno and rebounded to prevail 13-9 on Ancient. The South American club was led by Argentina's Luciano 'luchov' Herrera, who posted a match-high 49 kills.

In the Round 3 Mid Matches, all four fixtures ended in 2-0 sweeps. Gentle Mates blanked HEROIC, Aurora Gaming defeated PARIVISION, Team Falcons beat Monte and The MongolZ shut out G2 Esports. Those four winning teams moved on to the Round 4 High Matches.

The Round 3 Low Matches provided the first two eliminations of the tournament, as magic shut out K27 2-0 and The Huns Esports did the same to Fisher College.

The tournament continues Tuesday with six matches:

--MOUZ vs. Aurora Gaming (Round 4 High)

--The MongolZ vs. Team Falcons (Round 4 High)

--FURIA vs. Gentle Mates (Round 4 High)

--HEROIC vs. magic (Round 4 Low)

--Monte vs. The Huns Esports (Round 4 Low)

--PARIVISION vs. G2 Esports (Round 4 Low)

PGL Astana 2026 Group Stage standings:

T1. Team Spirit, 3-0

T1. 9z Team, 3-0

T3. MOUZ, 2-1

T3. FURIA, 2-1

T3. The MongolZ, 2-1

T3. Team Falcons, 2-1

T3. Aurora Gaming, 2-1

T3. Gentle Mates, 2-1

T9. HEROIC, 1-2

T9. PARIVISION, 1-2

T9. Monte, 1-2

T9. The Huns Esports, 1-2

T9. G2 Esports, 1-2

T9. magic, 1-2

T15. K27, 0-3

T15. Fisher College, 0-3

PGL Astana 2026 prize pool:

1. $256,000

2. $120,000

3. $96,000

4. $56,000

5-8. $40,000

9-11. $20,000

12-14. $12,000

15-16. $8,000 -- K27, Fisher College

--Field Level Media