BC.Game, Aurora, and Astralis advance to IEM Kraków 2026 group stage

Third and final playday of the first stage at IEM Kraków 2026 has concluded, determining the final participants of the tournament's group stage.

In the upper bracket, NRG defeated Astralis. In the lower bracket, Astralis eliminated GamerLegion, BC.Game defeated NIP, FUT bested Liquid, while Aurora prevailed over paiN.

The winners advanced to the group stage. The losing teams got relegated. The teams that did not win a single match in Play-In (B8, Legacu, Passion UA, and HEROIC) tied for 21st-24th place and received $2,500 each. The squads that reached the second round of the lower bracket (GamerLegion, NIP, Liquid and paiN) took 17th-20th place and won $4,500 each.

The final Play-In bracket looks as follows:

Group A bracket:

Group B bracket:

The full schedule and live broadcasts of IEM Kraków 2026 matches are available on the tournament's page via this link.