IEM Cologne Major 2026 viewer's guide

Upcoming Counter-Strike 2 Major, IEM Cologne Major 2026, will take place in Cologne, Germany, from June 2nd to 21st. The event will be divided into four stages. The total prize pool of the competition will amount to $1.25 million.

The first stage of the tournament will play out from June 2nd to 5th in a Swiss BO1 format. Matches for advancement and elimination will be BO3. The top eight squads will advance to the next stage, while the remaining teams will be relegated.

The second stage will take place from June 6th to 9th in the same format. The top eight rosters will get to the third stage, which will also be held in a Swiss format (all BO3 matches) from June 11th to 15th. Finally, the eight strongest teams will secure spots in the playoffs, which will be held in a Single Elimination BO3 format from June 18 to 21. The final will be BO5.

The team list for the first stage looks as follows:

 GamerLegion (Snax, REZ, Tauson, PR, hypex)
 B8 (alex666, npl, kensizor, esenthial, s1zzi)
 HEROIC (xfl0ud, nilo, susp, Chr1zN, yxngstxr)
 BetBoom Team (Boombl4, zorte, S1ren, FL4MUS, Magnojez)
 BIG (tabseN, JDC, faveN, blameF, gr1ks)
 M80 (slaxz-, Swisher, s1n, JBa, Lake)
 MIBR (LNZ, brnz4n, insani, venomzera, kl1m)
 SINNERS (beastik, SHOCK, MoDo, kisserek, stressarN)
 NRG (nitr0, Sonic, oSee, Grim, br0)
 TYLOO (JamYoung, Jee, Mercury, Moseyuh, Zero)
 Sharks (gafolo, koala, maxxkor, rdnzao, doc)
 Gaimin Gladiators (fer, HEN1, NEKIZ, Luken, JOTA)
 Liquid (Krimbo, EliGE, malbsMd, siuhy, ultimate)
 Lynn Vision (Westmelon, z4KR, Starry, EmiliaQAQ, C4LLM3SU3)
 THUNDER dOWNUNDER (dexter, Liazz, aliStair, asap, TjP)
 FlyQuest (jks, INS, Vexite, nettik, story)

Stage 2 invitees are:

 FUT (dem0n, coolio, Krabeni, cmtry, dziugss)
 Team Spirit (magixx, sh1ro, zont1x, tN1R, donk)
 Astralis (ryu, HooXi, phzy, jabbi, Staehr)
 G2 (SunPayus, huNter-, NertZ, MATYS, HeavyGod)
 Legacy (dumau, latto, n1ssim, arT, saadzin)
 paiN (vsm, biguzera, piriajr, saffee, snow)
 Monte (Rainwaker, Bymas, afro, Gizmy, AZUWU)
 9z (max, dgt, meyern, luchov, HUASOPEEK)

Stage 3 invitees are:

 Vitality (apEX, ropz, ZywOo, flameZ, mezii)
 NAVI (Aleksib, iM, b1t, makazze, w0nderful)
 Falcons (NiKo, kyousuke, TeSeS, m0NESY, karrigan)
 The MongolZ (bLitz, Techno, cobrazera, mzinho, 910)
 PARIVISION (Jame, BELCHONOKK, zweih, xiELO, nota)
 Aurora (MAJ3R, XANTARES, woxic, Wicadia, soulfly)
 FURIA (FalleN, YEKINDAR, yuurih, KSCERATO, molodoy)
 MOUZ (Brollan, Spinx, torzsi, xelex, xertioN)

The prize pool distribution looks as follows:

1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000
9-16. $15,000
17-24. $10,000
25-31. $5,000

The full schedule, up-to-date results and live broadcast of IEM Cologne Major 2026 can be found on the tournament page on our website via the link.