Eternal Fire and Natus Vincere are each one win away from qualifying for the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs after registering upper-bracket semifinal wins in Group A on Wednesday at Saint Julian’s, Malta.

Both teams posted 2-0 wins on Wednesday, with Eternal Fire sweeping Sangal Esports and Natus Vincere downing Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Two first-round mid-bracket matches were contested in Group A on Wednesday, with FaZe Clan defeating FlyQuest 2-0 and HEROIC edging Lynn Vision 2-1.

The upper-bracket quarterfinals in Group B concluded with Team Spirit topping Wildcard 2-0 and 3DMAX moving past The MongolZ 2-0.

The group stage split 32 teams into four groups of a triple-elimination bracket format, with each match best-of-three. The top four teams from each group will move into the playoff bracket.

Group winners will advance straight into the playoff quarterfinals. Runners-up will advance to the Round of 12, third-place teams will move to the Round of 16 as high seeds and fourth-place teams will start in the Round of 16 as low seeds.

The single-elimination playoff bracket will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sept. 22.

The winner will receive $170,000 and will qualify for the first ESL Pro Tour Championship of 2025.

On Wednesday, Eternal Fire beat Sangal Esports 13-8 on Dust II and 13-1 on Nuke. Ozgur “woxic” Eker led all-Turkish Eternal Fire with 37 kills and a plus-22 kill-death differential.

Natus Vincere topped Ninjas in Pyjamas 13-6 on Ancient and 13-9 on Dust II behind 45 kills and a plus-23 K-D differential from Romania’s Mihai “iM” Ivan.

FaZe Clan slipped past FlyQuest 13-9 on Anubis and 13-11 on Ancient. Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky paced FaZe Clan with 47 kills and a plus-23 K-D differential.

HEROIC sandwiched a 13-10 win on Dust II and a 13-7 triumph on Nuke around a 13-6 loss to Lynn Vision on Ancient. Israel’s Guy “NertZ” Iluz was the star for HEROIC with 50 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential.

Team Spirit squeaked past Wildcard 13-11 on Ancient and 16-13 in overtime on Nuke. Russia’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets was a dominant force for Team Spirit with 72 kills and a plus-46 K-D differential.

3DMAX toppled The MongolZ 13-9 on Anubis and 13-11 on Ancient. Lucas “Lucky” Chastang put 41 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential for all-French 3DMAX.

The Thursday schedule:

–Group A mid-bracket quarterfinal: Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. FaZe Clan

–Group A mid-bracket quarterfinal: Sangal Esports vs. HEROIC

–Group B upper-bracket semifinal: Team Spirit vs. MIBR

–Group B upper-bracket semifinal: 3DMAX vs. G2 Esports

–Group B mid-bracket first round: Wildcard vs. 9z Team

–Group B mid-bracket first round: The MongolZ vs. KOI

ESL Pro League Season 20 prize pool (money, BLAST Premier points)

1. $170,000, 2,000 points

2. $80,000, 1,400

3-4. $45,000, 750

5-8. $32,000, 275

9-12. $23,500

13-16. $17,500

17-20. $12,000

21-28. $7,000

29-32. $3,500

–Field Level Media