IEM Cologne Major 2026

The Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major 2026, simply known as IEM Cologne Major 2026, was the fifth Counter-Strike 2 Major Championship and twenty-fourth Counter-Strike Major overall. It was held in Cologne, Germany from June 2 to June 21, 2026, with the playoffs held at the Lanxess Arena, while each Stage 3 match was held in front of live audiences at the Palladium. The Major involved 32 teams, with each team directly invited to the event. It featured a prize pool of .

Team Falcons were crowned Major champions after a 3–0 victory over FURIA Esports, claiming their first title. Falcons player Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov was awarded his first Major MVP.

Background Counter-Strike 2 is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation. It is the fifth game in the Counter-Strike series. In professional Counter-Strike, the Valve-sponsored Majors are considered the most prestigious tournaments.

The Major was announced August 3, 2025 after the final of that year's IEM Cologne tournament, and was the eighth organized by ESL, after last hosting Rio 2022.

Team Vitality were the Major's back-to-back defending champions, following a 2–1 victory over The MongolZ at Austin 2025 and a 3–1 victory over FaZe Clan at Budapest 2025, the most recent Major. They were eliminated following a quarterfinal defeat to Team Falcons.

Format The tournament involves three Swiss-system group stages before an eight-team single-elimination playoffs. The Major featured 32 teams directly invited according to their Valve Regional Standings (VRS). Eight teams are eliminated from each Swiss-system stage before the final eight teams compete in a single-elimination playoff bracket to determine a champion. Each match after the initial matchups of each stage and the initial matchups of the Playoffs Stage are seeded according to teams' Buchholz score.

In the first two stages, all matches except for progression or elimination matches, which are played as bests-of-three, are played in a best-of-one format. For the first time, all Stage 3 matches were played as best-of-three series. Additionally, each Stage 3 match was held in front of live audiences at the Palladium. Each match in the Playoffs Stage before the grand final is played in a best-of-three format, with the final being a best-of-five.

Map pool On January 22, 2026, Valve released an update replacing Train with Anubis in the Active Duty map pool used for Majors.

Ancient Anubis Dust II Inferno Mirage Nuke Overpass

Talent On May 29, 2026, ESL announced the full talent lineup for the Major.

Hosts

OJ Borg (stage host) Freya Spiers Tres "stunna" Saranthus Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere

Analysts

Janko "YNk" Paunović Jacob "Pimp" Winneche Martin "STYKO" Styk Ashley "ashhh" Battye Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen

Casters

Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill Alex "Machine" Richardson Harry "JustHarry" Russell Hugo Byron Jason "moses" O'Toole Adam "Dinko" Hawthorne Conner "Scrawny" Girvan Mohan "launders" Govindasamy

Teams

Qualification Invites to the Major were distributed to each region according to their performance at Budapest 2025, with the number for each region past Stage 1 determined by the number of teams of each region that advanced to the next Stage. The 11 highest ranked European teams in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) were invited to Stages 2 and 3, with five in Stage 2 and six in Stage 3. As no Asian teams advanced to Stage 2 at Budapest, Asia loses its Stage 2 slot, but retains its Stage 3 invite. The Americas region lost a Stage 3 invite but received an additional Stage 2 invite. The distribution of Stage 1 invites remained the same as in Budapest.

Invites Below are the invited teams, according to their Valve Regional Standing as of April 6, 2026. ESL confirmed the invites on April 7. RegionQualified StageStage 1Stage 2Stage 3Europe GamerLegion BIG Clan BetBoom Team B8 Esports HEROIC SINNERS Esports Team Spirit Astralis G2 Esports FUT Esports Monte Team Vitality Natus Vincere PARIVISION Aurora Gaming Team Falcons MOUZAmericas M80 NRG Esports Sharks Esports Gaimin Gladiators MIBR Team Liquid 9z Team paiN Gaming Legacy FURIA EsportsAsia TYLOO Lynn Vision Gaming THUNDER dOWNUNDER FlyQuest The MongolZ

Rosters Below are the rosters for each qualified team, as confirmed on April 22, 2026.

Legends The Legends rosters includes the eight teams directly invited to Stage 3 of the Major. Legends Team RostersTeam NameCore RosterCoachSubstitute PlayerTeam Vitality Dan "apEX" Madesclaire Shahar "flameZ" Shushan William "mezii" Merriman Robin "ropz" Kool Mathieu "ZywOo" HerbautRémy "XTQZZZ" QuoniamLuca-Adrian "lucaZ" GavrilutNatus Vincere Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy Mihai "iM" Ivan Drin "makazze" Shaqiri Ihor "w0nderful" ZhdanovAndrey "B1ad3" GorodenskiyJustinas "jL" LekaviciusPARIVISION Andrey "BELCHONOKK" Yasinskiy Dzhami "Jame" Ali Emil "nota" Moskvitin Vladislav "xiELO" Lysov Ivan "zweih" GoginDastan "dastan" Akbayev Team Falcons Maksim "kyousuke" Lukin

Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov Nikola "NiKo" Kovač René "TeSeS" MadsenDanny "zonic" SørensenFinn "karrigan" AndersenAurora Gaming Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli Caner "soulfly" Kesici Ali "Wicadia" Haydar Yalçın Özgür "woxic" Eker Ismailcan "XANTARES" DörtkardeşSezgin "Fabre" KalaycıSamet "jottAAA" KöklüMOUZ Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin

Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" BermanDennis "sycrone" NielsenAdrian "⁠xelex⁠" VinczeFURIA Esports Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato Danil "molodoy" Golubenko Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis Yuri "yuurih" SantosSid "sidde" Macedo rowspan=2 The MongolZ Usukhbayar "910" Banzragch Garidmagnai "bLitz" Byambasuren Anarbileg "cobrazera" Uuganbayar Ayush "mzinho" Batbold Sodbayar "Techno" MunkhboldErdenedalai "maaRaa" Bayanbat

Challengers The Challengers rosters includes the eight teams directly invited to Stage 2 of the Major. Challengers Team RostersTeam NameCore RosterCoachSubstitute PlayerTeam Spirit Danil "donk" Kryshkovets Boris "magixx" Vorobiev Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov Andrey "tN1R" Tatarinovich Myroslav "zont1x" PlakhotiaSergey "hally" ShavaevDmitry "S0tF1k" ForostyankoAstralis Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard Love "phzy" Smidebrant Gytis "ryu" Glušauskas Victor "Staehr" StaehrCasper "ruggah" DueMax "MiGHTYMAX" HeathG2 Esports Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač Matúš "MATYS" Šimko Guy "NertZ" Iluz Álvaro "SunPayus" GarcíaEetu "sAw" SahaVilius "tAk" KeserauskasFUT Esports Nikita "cmtry" Samolotov Dmytro "dem0n" Myroshnychenko Džiugas "dziugss" Steponavičius Aulon "Krabeni" Fazlija Laurențiu "lauNX" ȚârleaAndrás "coolio" Fercsák rowspan=3 Monte Aurélien "afro" Drapier Oscar "AZUWU" Bell Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras Jack "Gizmy" von Spreckelsen Aleks "Rainwaker" PetrovAlexander "kakafu" Szymanczyk9z Team Franco "dgt" Garcia Matias "HUASOPEEK" Ibañez Hernandez Luciano "luchov" Herrera Maximiliano "max" Gonzalez Ignacio "meyern" MeyerBruno "BIT" Fukuda LimapaiN Gaming Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt

Guilherme "piriajr" Barbosa João "snow" Vinicius Vinicius "v$m" MoreiraHenrique "rikz" WakuRafael "saffee" CostaLegacy Andrei "arT" Piovezan Eduardo "dumau" Wolkmer Bruno "latto" Rebelatto Vinicius "n1ssim" Pereira Guilherme "saadzin" PachecoAlan "⁠adrrr⁠" Riveros

Contenders The Contenders rosters includes the sixteen teams directly invited to Stage 1 of the Major. Contenders Team RostersTeam NameCore RosterCoachSubstitute PlayerGamerLegion Milan "hypex" Polowiec Oldřich "PR" Nový Fredrik "REZ" Sterner Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski Sebastian "Tauson" Tauson LindelofAdrian "imd" PieperDenis "Grashog" HristovBIG Clan Benjamin "blameF" Bremer Josef "faveN" Baumann Gleb "gr1ks" Gazin Jon "JDC" de Castro Johannes "tabseN" WodarzSebastian "xenn" HochJason "JBOEN" Boe NielsenBetBoom Team Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov Timur "FL4MUS" Marev Kirill "Magnojez" Rodnov

Aleksandr "zorte" ZagodyrenkoArtem "Fierce" IvanovDaniil "d1Ledez" KustovB8 Esports Alexey "alex666" Yarmoshchuk Dmytro "esenthial" Tsvir Artem "kensizor" Kapran Andrii "npl" Kukharskyi Daniil "s1zzi" innykIvan "maddened" IordanidiVolodymyr "k1n" KozovykHEROIC Christoffer "Chr1zN" Storgaard Linus "nilo" Bergman Tim "susp" Ångström Yasin "xfl0ud" Koç Simon "yxngstxr" BoijeTobias "TOBIZ" TheoRadu "HOLY" VrânceanuSINNERS Esports Sebastian "beastik" Daňo Kamil "kisserek" Banak Mădălin-Andrei "MoDo" Mirea Max "SHOCK" Kvapil Jordan "stressarN" ManevskiJakub "Bfull" KokoškaAleksandar "CacaNito" KjulukoskiM80 Josh "JBa" Barutt Mason "Lake" Sanderson Elias "s1n" Stein Fritz "slaxz-" Dietrich Michael "Swisher" SchmidRory "dephh" JacksonFrank "M0nstr" VopatNRG Esports Alexander "br0" Bro Michael "Grim" Wince Nick "nitr0" Cannella Josh "oSee" Ohm Aran "Sonic" GroesbeekDamian "daps" Steele Sharks Esports Danilo "doc" Barros Victor "gafolo" Andrade João "koala" Pfeffer Máximo "maxxkor" Cortina Daniel "rdnzao" MonteiroHélder "coachi" SanchoCristiano "D10S" Marques Sá CarvalhoGaimin Gladiators Henrique "HEN1" Teles Jhonatan "JOTA" Willian Luca "Luken" Nadotti Gabriel "NEKIZ" SchenatoJoão "horvy" HorvathFernando "fer" AlvarengaMIBR Breno "brnz4n" Poletto Felipe "insani" Yuji Klimentii "kl1m" Krivosheev Linus "LNZ" Holtäng Carlos "venomzera" EduardoNestor "LETN1" TanićBruno "brn$" de AraújoTeam Liquid Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa Keith "NAF" Markovic Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek Roland "ultimate" TomkowiakViktor "flashie" Tamás BeaSteve "jokasteve" PerinoTYLOO Yi "JamYoung" Yang Dongkai "Jee" Ji Jingxiang "Mercury" Wang Qianhao "Moseyuh" Chen Su "Zero" JingshenWeijie "zhokiNg" ZhongYuanzhang "Attacker" ShengLynn Vision Gaming Qihao "C4LLM3SU3" Su Junjie "EmiliaQAQ" Tang Lizhi "Starry" Ye Zhe "Westmelon" Niu Sike "z4KR" ZhangYifei "GUM" Dai rowspan=3 THUNDER dOWNUNDER Alistair "aliStair" Johnston Tyson "asap" Paterson Christopher "dexter" Nong Jay "Liazz" Tregillgas Tynan "TjP" PurtellEddie "viridian" AzziFlyQuest Joshua "INS" Potter Justin "jks" Savage Corey "nettik" Browne João "story" Vieira Declan "Vexite" PortelliAaron "AZR" Ward

Stage 1 Stage 1 featured sixteen directly invited teams based on their global Valve Regional Standings, competing in a Swiss-system bracket. Teams were initially seeded according to their Valve Regional Standing, with further matches seeded according to a team's Buchholz score. Teams with equal Buchholz scores were seeded according to their initial place in Round 1.

Sixteen teams competed for eight Stage 2 spots, with all matches besides elimination and progression matches, which are best-of-three, being best-of-one.

Stage 1 was played from June 2 to June 5, 2026.

Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Stage 2 Stage 2 featured eight directly invited teams based on their Valve Regional Standings as well as eight teams qualified from Stage 1, competing in a Swiss-system bracket. Invited teams were initially seeded according to their global Valve Regional Standing, while the eight teams qualified from Stage 2 were seeded according to their final Buchholz score from Stage 1, with further matches seeded according to a team's Buchholz score in Stage 2. Teams with equal Buchholz scores were seeded according to their initial place in Round 2.

Sixteen teams competed for eight Stage 3 spots, with all matches besides elimination and progression matches, which are best-of-three, being best-of-one.

Stage 2 was played from June 6 to June 9, 2026.