Mortalles predicted the winners of the matches on the third day of the group stage of the 2026 Esports World Cup in Dota 2

Another day with few interesting matches on the schedule.
In Group A, all the favorites should sweep their series 2-0. The Falcons will be the toughest opponent. This year, the head-to-head record between the teams stands at 3-5 in maps, and those guys are tenacious.
It would be a disgrace for Xtreme not to win 2-0, while BB simply has to pull it off based on their skill level. RE played horribly against the Falcons yesterday. Their supports fed outrageously, and in terms of macro play, the team was three levels weaker. Hopefully, there won’t be any surprises.

In Group B, I’m still rooting for Playtime. LVLup is the weakest team in the tournament based on the first two days. Now it’s up to Darkmago to step up.
Aurora needs to beat an opponent like this; otherwise, they might not take first place in the group.

Liquid vs. Nigma
: One of the two main matches of the day. Liquid has a huge margin for improvement, and the team isn’t playing at its full potential yet. They can definitely do better, but their performance has been unconvincing so far. That’s why we’re not making any pre-match predictions until the drafts.

In Group C, everything is pretty much clear.
Team Spirit has the toughest opponent. I don’t expect a victory as easy as the one PV pulled off yesterday, but I still think a 2-0 win is possible.
PV will win 2-0, of course, and Mouz is still in top form. I hope this one goes without any upsets, too.

In Group D, there’s going to be an incredibly interesting series between LGD and 1w. Obviously, I’m rooting for LGD, but this is a match where anything can happen. 1w seems to be finding their footing, while LGD just needs to draft well. We might even see two 60-minute games here—I wouldn’t be surprised.

Yandex should take their match, but OG will have to work hard. Artstyle is capable of pulling off surprises, and this is pretty much the only match where IC can pick up points. Let’s skip ahead to the drafts.

So far, I like that most of the favorites aren’t messing around and are giving it their all. The format is great in that regard—every match matters. Even in the pre-match phase, we were able to pick out a lot of good double and triple picks over the past two days, and sometimes even more, like yesterday. I hope this trend continues today.