AGO are through to the playoffs at the ESEA Season 26 MDL Global Challenge after beating Space Soldiers 16-11 in Group A's winners' match.

The first winners' match of the tournament quickly turned into a bloodbath. Starting out on the CT side of the map, Space Soldiers struggled to adapt to AGO's slow-paced strategies, getting immediately countered after finally taking their first round of the game.

Down 1-9, Space Soldiers came close to adding a second round to their tally after Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın had picked up four kills inside B, but Damian "⁠Furlan⁠" Kislowski pulled off a 1v2 clutch, leaving the CTs strapped for cash.

It was only in the 13th round that Space Soldiers managed to get another round on the board, courtesy of a quad-kill from Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli, but once again they got instantly reset. That did not keep the Turkish team from winning the final round of the half on an extremely shoddy buy, but they knew they had a mountain to climb to overturn the massive 3-12 deficit.

AGO top Group A after beating Space Soldiers

Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş kept his team in it with a trio of kills in the pistol round, setting Space Soldiers up for a massive run. With the team's two main stars on point, the Turkish side bagged eight rounds without response, bringing the deficit to a minimum.

That was when AGO's defense finally came to life, thanks to Tomasz "⁠phr⁠" Wójcik, who came up huge to bring the scoreline to 14-11. Despite having plenty of money to work with, Space Soldiers could not find a way past the AGO defence again, with the Polish side locking down the map, 16-11, to book their spot in the playoffs.