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IEM Cologne Major with Ninja Pizza
The decisive stage of IEM Cologne Major 2026, one of the biggest CS2 tournaments of the first half of the season, begins today. After three stages of competition in Cologne, only eight teams remain in the race for the championship trophy and the $500,000 first-place prize.
The playoffs will take place at the legendary LANXESS Arena and follow a Single Elimination format, meaning there is no longer any room for error: one loss means elimination. The quarterfinals will be played on Thursday and Friday, both semifinals will take place on Saturday, and the new Major champion will be crowned on Sunday evening.
Who are the favorites?
Vitality remain the leading contenders for the trophy. The world’s best team have won the previous two Majors and are now just three victories away from a historic third consecutive championship. However, the French-European roster will face a serious challenge against Falcons in the quarterfinals.
The matchup will be particularly significant because of karrigan. The captain who led FaZe Clan to silver medals at the previous Major now represents Falcons and will face Vitality for the first time with his new team.
The upper half of the bracket appears to be the most challenging. The winner of Vitality versus Falcons will face the stronger team from the G2 versus Spirit matchup in the semifinals. As a result, several of the tournament’s leading title contenders find themselves on the same side of the bracket.
In the lower half, attention turns to the South American derby between FURIA and 9z. The Brazilian team traditionally finds its best form at the biggest tournaments, while Kazakh AWPer molodoy remains one of its most dangerous weapons. The winner of this matchup will face either Aurora or BB.
Unfortunately, NAVI’s campaign ended during Stage 3. In the decisive match for a place in the playoffs, the Born to Win suffered a 1–2 defeat against G2 and fell one step short of reaching the LANXESS Arena.
Playoff schedule in Kyiv time
Thursday, June 18 — Quarterfinals
16:45 — Aurora vs BB
20:00 — 9z vs FURIA
Friday, June 19 — Quarterfinals
16:45 — G2 vs Spirit
20:00 — Falcons vs Vitality
Saturday, June 20 — Semifinals
16:45 — winner of Aurora / BB vs winner of 9z / FURIA
20:00 — winner of G2 / Spirit vs winner of Falcons / Vitality
Sunday, June 21
18:00 — Grand Final
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played as best-of-3 series, while the champion will be decided in a best-of-5 Grand Final.
Watch together with Ninja Pizza
The decisive matches of IEM Cologne Major 2026 are the perfect reason to invite your friends over, tune in to the broadcast from Ukrainian production studio Maincast, and enjoy a full evening of CS2. To make sure you do not miss any spectacular clutches, epic comebacks, or incredible highlights, we recommend ordering your favorite Ninja Pizza in advance.