100 Thieves Sweep FUT Esports To Reach Champions Playoffs
100 Thieves have secured a playoff spot at VALORANT Champions 2026, defeating FUT Esports 2-0 in the group stage's winners' match to become the fourth team confirmed for the playoff stage in Shanghai.
The win makes 100 Thieves the second VCT Americas side to finish the group stage 2-0, after already beating LOUD earlier in the tournament.
A Composition Change Pays Off
100 Thieves opened on Split with a role change, shifting duties between Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk, Sean "bang" Bezerra and Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban after their earlier loss to LOUD.
FUT Esports ran a standard double-duelist composition and won the opening pistol round, but a forced buy from 100 Thieves on round two ended in a 3v1 that FUT lost.
A lengthy technical pause followed when Dogan "xeus" Gozgen's mouse appeared to stop working mid-round, though Timothee "Timotino" Lavigne Dupont ran through the rest of the map to put 100 Thieves up 9-3 at the half. 100 Thieves closed out Split 13-5.
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FUT's Technical Complaint
FUT Esports players publicly criticised Riot Games after the match over the equipment issue that cost xeus the round two duel.
Officials let the round result stand under rule 10.2.3 of the VCT rulebook, which states that when gameplay is interrupted, teams must play out the round, and a victory can only be awarded if a side had already undisputedly won the round at the point of interruption.
Riot did not provide a detailed explanation of the ruling, and one FUT player skipped the post-match press conference.
A Tighter Second Map
FUT pushed 100 Thieves harder on Lotus, winning the opening two rounds and building an 8-4 halftime lead behind strong individual play from Okan "KROSTALY" Alacam and Volkan "sociablEE" Yonal.
100 Thieves needed the second pistol round to stay competitive, then strung together a flawless anti-eco and a 1v2 clutch from bang to cut the gap to two rounds and seize momentum.
After the score reached 10-10, Timotino and Asuna closed out a tense fight on C site, and 100 Thieves finished Lotus 13-10 to complete the sweep.
Shanghai Odds Picture Tightens
The result confirms 100 Thieves as one of the strongest teams heading into the Champions 2026 playoffs in Shanghai, adding to the group of confirmed qualifiers that bettors will be pricing up as the bracket takes shape.
FUT Esports, meanwhile, drops into the lower bracket and must now win through a tougher path to keep their own Champions run alive.
100 Thieves became the fourth team overall to lock a playoff spot at the tournament and the second from the Americas region to finish the group stage with a perfect 2-0 record, after already beating LOUD earlier in the event, underlining how dominant the roster has looked through the group stage so far.
The win also keeps alive 100 Thieves' bid to add a VALORANT Champions title to an organisation that has chased international silverware across multiple esports for several years.
