9FSHARKS vs Ninjas in Pyjamas Prediction on April 23, 2026

Match info

Royal-level prestige isn’t on the line here, but this is still a meaningful playoff match because the CCT Season 3 Global Finals for Counter-Strike 2 is a compact eight-team LAN with a $75,000 prize pool, and the upper-bracket quarterfinal winner gets immediate leverage in a short double-elimination bracket. For Ninjas in Pyjamas, it’s a chance to turn a shaky-but-competitive spring into a clean playoff run on LAN. For Sharks Esports, it’s a chance to prove their South American form translates against a better-ranked European opponent on stage.

That makes this a useful matchup for anyone browsing eSports CS2 betting angles early, because it pairs a structured favorite with a live underdog that has been winning regularly in its own region.

When:

The match is scheduled for Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 18:00 local time in Vila Nova de Gaia, using Western European Summer Time (WEST).

Where:

The venue is the SAW Esports Arena in Vila Nova de Gaia (near Porto), a landmark in Portugal’s eSports scene.

Meeting statistics

Current form and & playstyle: 9FSHARKS

The home team, the Sharks, arrives from a different place. They are ranked lower—No. 48 on HLTV’s world list—but their recent record is steadier than that number might suggest. HLTV shows a 66.7% win rate over the last three months, and their last five listed matches include wins over Imperial, Fluxo, ODDIK, and MIBR Academy, with the loss in that stretch coming against 9z. That profile fits the eye test for Sharks: this is a side that has been doing its damage mostly inside the South American ecosystem, leaning on cohesion and repetition more than star-name power.

The team whose core revolves around Victor “gafolo” Andrade and João “koala” Pedro looks comfortable playing direct Counter-Strike, especially when it can secure early map control and let its riflers trade forward. They aren’t coming in with the same big-event résumé as NiP, but they aren’t arriving cold either. Their recent event placings and string of regional wins make them dangerous if NiP start slowly or allow the veto to drift into uncomfortable territory.

Current form and & playstyle: Ninjas in Pyjamas

The Swedish organization comes into this with the better ranking and, probably, the more trustworthy ceiling, but not with the kind of form that makes it untouchable. HLTV’s preview lists them at world No. 29, and their recent results show both why people still take them seriously and why there is still caution around them. They beat Liquid at BLAST Open Rotterdam and picked up an important win over Gentle Mates in Stake Ranked, but they also lost to PARIVISION in Rotterdam and were swept by HEROIC in early April.

That suggests a team that can absolutely win this quarterfinal, but one that still doesn’t look fully settled from one series to the next. In stylistic terms, NiP looks like a side that wants control more than chaos: a structured, mid-round-heavy team shape under Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer, with experienced pieces like Martin “stavn” Lund and Rasmus “sjuush” Beck helping keep rounds stable, and enough individual punch from players like Kacper “xKacpersky” Gabara to take over maps when momentum swings their way. When they are good, they look disciplined and efficient rather than explosive for their own sake.

Head-to-head

The head-to-head isn’t especially deep, at least from what we could verify cleanly. The most relevant completed recent meeting we found was the Fragadelphia Las Vegas 2025 grand final, where Ninjas in Pyjamas beat Sharks 3-0. HLTV’s stats page for that series shows NiP’s map wins on Anubis (13-9), Nuke (13-4), and Ancient (13-4). There’s also an old ESL Pro League 2020 match page for the teams, but HLTV marks it as deleted, so we wouldn’t treat it as a reliable, complete historical reference. In practical terms, that means the verified recent H2H leans NiP, but the sample is small enough that you should not overstate it.

Match analytics

Our prediction is that Ninjas in Pajamas will win the series. The safer reading is that NiP have the stronger lineup on paper, the better level of recent opposition, and the kind of structure that usually holds up better in a playoff bo3 on LAN. Sharks have enough current form to make this awkward, and we wouldn’t be shocked if they take a map if the veto lands well for them, but NiP should still be the more complete team over a full series. The scoreline that fits us best is 2-0 NiP if they start cleanly, and 2-1 NiP if Sharks get their preferred map and ride momentum early.

So, the straightest play is Ninjas in Pyjamas to win. If you want a slightly more aggressive angle, NiP -1.5 maps is the sharper upside bet, but it’s also more vulnerable because Sharks have been winning regularly, and NiP haven’t exactly been blowing every opponent away. The more balanced betting view is that NiP is the rightful favorite, while Sharks are live enough to make the map handicap a little riskier than the moneyline.

Because the Champion of Champions Tour (CCT) is Tier 2/3-focused, many mainstream bookmakers limit their coverage of these events. Season 3 isn’t yet on offer for individual matches, but E-TOTO offers outrights for CCT Season 3 Global Finals, so if you’re impatient to find out match markets, this is the bet you can employ – NiP are 8.00 to win the tournament, while Sharks are 12.00.

Tip: Map handicap – Ninjas in Pyjamas -1.5.