IEM Kraków 2026 viewer's guide

From January 28 to February 8, a prestigious LAN tournament IEM Kraków 2026 will take place in Krakow, Poland, featuring a total prize pool of one million US dollars. The final stage of the event will play out at the TAURON Arena Kraków.

IEM Kraków 2026 will begin with the Play-In Stage, featuring 16 teams. They will compete in a Double Elimination bracket for eight spots in the competition's group stage.

The group stage will take place in a Double Elimination format. The top three squads from each group will advance to the playoffs, with the winners advancing directly to the semi-finals, while the teams that place second and third will go to the quarter-finals.

The IEM Kraków 2026 playoffs will be held in a Single Elimination format. All matches except the final will be best-of-three (BO3), while the final will be best-of-five (BO5).

The Play-In stage participants are:

 Aurora (MAJ3R, XANTARES, woxic, Wicadia, soulfly)
 GamerLegion (Snax, REZ, Tauson, PR, hypex)
 HEROIC (xfl0ud, nilo, susp, Chr1zN, Alkaren)
 PARIVISION (Jame, BELCHONOKK, zweih, xiELO, nota)
 Liquid (Krimbo, EliGE, NertZ, siuhy, ultimate)
 NIP (Snappi, sjuush, r1nkle, xKacpersky, cairne)
 Passion UA (JT, hallzerk, Grim, Kvem, nicx)
 G2 (SunPayus, huNter-, malbsMd, MATYS, HeavyGod)
 Legacy (dumau, latto, n1ssim, lux, saadzin)
 BC.Game (MUTiRiS, s1mple, electroNic, aragornN, krazy)
 FUT (dem0n, lauNX, Krabeni, cmtry, dziugss)
 3DMAX (Maka, Lucky, bodyy, Ex3rcice, Graviti)
 Astralis (ryu, HooXi, phzy, jabbi, Staehr)
 paiN (vsm, biguzera, piriajr, nqz, snow)
 NRG (nitr0, Sonic, oSee, br0, Jeorge)
 B8 (alex666, npl, kensizor, esenthial, segukawa)

Play-In seeding looks as follows:

The direct invitees to the group stage are:

Group A

 FURIA (FalleN, YEKINDAR, yuurih, KSCERATO, molodoy)
 The MongolZ (bLitz, Techno, cobrazera, mzinho, 910)
 NAVI (Aleksib, iM, b1t, makazze, w0nderful)
 Team Spirit (magixx, sh1ro, zont1x, tN1R, donk)

Group B

 Vitality (apEX, ropz, ZywOo, flameZ, mezii)
 FaZe (karrigan, Twistzz, jcobbb, frozen, broky)
 MOUZ (Brollan, Spinx, torzsi, Jimpphat, xertioN)
 Falcons (NiKo, kyousuke, TeSeS, m0NESY, kyxsan)

The prize money distribution:

1. $400,000
2. $180,000
3. $100,000
4. $60,000
5-6. $40,000
7-8. $24,000
9-12. $16,000
13-16. $10,000
17-20. $4,500
21-24. $2,500

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