NAVI Junior prospect Drin «makazze» Shaqiri has been included in Kosovo’s roster for the Esports Nations Cup 2026 national qualifiers, giving one of Counter-Strike’s rising talents a chance to represent his country on the international stage.
The 18-year-old is part of KOSOVATM, a lineup registered on FACEIT for Kosovo’s national qualifier. However, the roster must first earn the country’s only spot before advancing to the Eastern Europe regional qualifier, where teams will compete for a place at the inaugural Counter-Strike 2 edition of the Esports Nations Cup. National qualifiers run through July 16, with regional qualifiers scheduled for July 17-19.
Makazze will play alongside several of Kosovo’s most recognizable Counter-Strike names. The lineup features FUT Esports captain Aulon «Krabeni» Fazlija, who previously teamed up with the NAVI Junior player, as well as former Bad News Eagles trio Genc «gxx-» Kolgeci, Flatron «juanflatroo» Halimi, and Dionis «sinnopsyy» Budeci. Arlind «deb0» Sadika completes the six-man roster.
The reunion of the former Bad News Eagles core adds plenty of experience to the project. The squad helped put Kosovo on the Counter-Strike map by qualifying for PGL Major Antwerp 2022 through the open qualifiers and reaching the Legends Stage before securing another Major appearance at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. Now, that veteran core is set to play alongside makazze, who has established himself as one of NAVI Junior’s standout players over the past year.
Interestingly, the lineup closely mirrors makazze’s own vision of Kosovo’s strongest possible national team. The youngster had previously named Krabeni, gxx-, juanflatroo, and sinnopsyy as the players he would most like to represent Kosovo with, and that roster has now become a reality–provided it can make it through qualification.
Counter-Strike 2 will debut at the Esports Nations Cup later this year in Riyadh, where 24 national teams will compete for a $1.32 million prize pool. Unlike most top-tier CS2 events, the tournament offers no direct invitations, with every participating nation required to qualify through national and regional stages.
Kosovo’s qualification campaign concludes on July 16, after which the winning lineup will move on to the regional stage in pursuit of a place at the tournament’s first-ever CS2 finals.
