The IEM Cologne 2026 Major playoffs start tomorrow at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, the venue the CS community has long called the Cathedral of Counter-Strike. Eight teams are left standing after Stage III, and the bracket is set.
FURIA and Team Spirit both finished Stage III with perfect 3-0 records — the second consecutive Major where both teams pulled that off. Aurora, Falcons, and Vitality came through 3-1, while 9z Team, BetBoom, and G2 Esports scraped through at 3-2. Thursday's quarterfinals open with 9z Team vs. FURIA and Aurora vs. BetBoom. Friday brings G2 Esports vs. Team Spirit and Falcons vs. Vitality. Semifinals are Saturday, Grand Finals on Sunday.
Vitality arrive as the team to beat — they're chasing a third straight Major title, which would be a historic run in CS2. Whether FURIA, Spirit, or anyone else can stop them is the question the whole weekend hinges on.
Team and player stickers are still on sale, with 50% of tournament item proceeds split between the organizer, teams, and players. Pick'Em Challenge players need to lock in all playoff picks before the first match tips off Thursday — Diamond Coin is on the line.
Sources (1)
AI-assisted summary, reviewed by our editors — how we work.
Get the daily digest
Top gaming news in Lithuanian — every day at 9:00.
Related on Counter-Strike
Modder builds Counter-Strike clone that runs at 60 fps on a PSP
Developer Yifeng Wang has released OpenStrike, a Counter-Strike clone that runs at 60 fps on Sony's PSP — hardware that is now 22 years old....