The opening matchups for both events were also announced.

ESL has announced the groups, seeding, and opening matchups for the upcoming IEM Road to Rio Europe and Asia RMRs. The unveiling of the groups comes after the fourth and final Europe open qualifier and Asia's four closed qualifiers concluded on August 28.

In Europe, the 32 teams have been split into two groups of 16, with each offering eight spots for the varioius stages of the upcoming IEM Major Rio. As for Asia, the four teams present will be battling for just two places that will reward IEM Major Rio Challenger Stage berths.

The groups for the Americas RMR will be unveiled when the two remaining North American open qualifiers conclude on September 5.

The two groups for the Europe RMR were seeded based on the performance at PGL Major Antwerp and the four online qualifiers.

Group A features three of the top five teams in the world, with world No. 2 and reigning champions FaZe being the top seed. Group B, meanwhile, boasts the best team in the world in Natus Vincere, with No. 5 and No. 7 ranked MOUZ and Vitality not far behind.

The two Europe RMR groups will take place in the Mediterranean island-nation of Malta from October 4-9, with a total of eight spots available for IEM Major Rio, and a further eight for the Challengers Stage.

The groups for the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR are:

The following opening matchups for the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR will get started on October 4 at 11:00 :

Europe RMR A

FaZe vs. GamerLegion
Spirit vs. 1WIN
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Astralis
G2 vs. ECSTATIC
Cloud9 vs. B8
Bad News Eagles vs. Eternal Fire
FORZE vs. Sprout
fnatic vs. Aurora

Europe RMR B

Natus Vincere vs. Benched Heroes
ENCE vs. HEET
HEROIC vs. SAW
Vitality vs. FANTASY
BIG vs. Sangal
Outsiders vs. Monte
Falcons vs. K23
MOUZ vs. OG

The IEM Road to Rio Asia RMR will be held in Melbourne, Australia from October 7-9, and offer two places in the IEM Major Rio Challengers Stage. Like Europe, the teams have been seeded based on their performance in their respective closed qualifiers.

The opening matches for IEM Road to Rio Asia RMR are:

IHC vs. JiJieHao International
Grayhound vs. Rare Atom

Visit our dedicated coverage hub to stay updated with all the news related to the IEM Rio Major 2022.