MOUZ vs The MongolZ headline opening BLAST Open Rotterdam matches

Esports tournament organiser BLAST has revealed the opening matches taking place across the first two days of BLAST Open Rotterdam.

The first eight matches are headlined by MOUZ facing off against The MongolZ on March 19th.

Announced on February 19th, the first eight series feature some of the world’s best Counter-Strike teams competing with the aim of beginning their tournament campaigns on the front foot. In addition to MOUZ taking on The MongolZ, Team Falcons will go up against NRG, while Team Vitality will battle against 9z in the last match of day two.

The full schedule for the first two days is as follows:

Taking place from March 18th to 29th, BLAST Open Rotterdam is the second Tier 1 tournament BLAST will be hosting this year. From March 18th to 23rd, the 16 teams will be split into two groups of eight. The top three from each double-elimination GSL group will advance to the playoffs to compete for the lion’s share of a $400,000 (~£297,276) prize pool.

The winners of each group will earn a place in the Semi-finals, while the runners-up will proceed to the quarter-finals as the high seed. Third-place teams will join the runners-up in the quarter-finals as low seeds.

The playoffs, running from March 27th to 29th, will see the remaining teams head to Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena to compete in a best-of-three single-elimination bracket until the Grand Final, where a best-of-five will decide the winner.

With teams continuing to earn Valve Regional Standings (VRS) points in a bid to book their place at the IEM Cologne Major, BLAST has attracted several notable names to its Rotterdam event.

The likes of Team Vitality and Parivision will aim to continue their strong start to the season, while FaZe Clan will hope to rediscover some form after an early exit from PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026.

Defending BLAST Open champions G2 Esports will not be attending BLAST Open Rotterdam, opening the door for another team to add a Tier 1 trophy to its collections.