IEM Cologne 2026 Quarter Final Teams Decided

The IEM Cologne Quarterfinal matches have been determined with the culmination of the group stages.

The matching system used to determine opponents has come under fire, with the three top-seeded teams (Spirit, Falcons, and Vita) left in the competition all featuring in the top half of the draw.

G2 shocked NAVI to take a deserved win in the final stage 3 match, with the home team now facing off against in-form Team Spirit. Spirit progressed through stages 2 and 3 with unblemished 3-0 records in both.

In arguably the most exciting match of the next round, Team Falcons will take on tournament favourites Team Vitality. Meanwhile, Aurora Gaming compete against BetBoom Team. 9z, who continue to show decent form in major events, will face off against FURIA.

Team Spirit vs G2 Esports

Spirit came into the tournament on the back of winning PGL Astana in May, following up on a 2^nd place finish in Rio.

Because teams were seeded on April 6, before these results, which saw Spirit enter Cologne at Stage 2. They made short work of their first matches, beating BetBoom and Mirage in best-of-1 games, and downing 9z 2-0 in the best of 3.

They progressed with a round difference of +42 before progressing through stage 3 with a 3-0 record after facing some tricky opposition in NAVI, Aurora Gaming, and 9z.

G2 also entered at the same stage. Despite losing 2-1 to FUT, they advanced with a 3-1 record.

But they found stage 3 a lot more challenging. Although they overturned the earlier loss to FUT, and beat Legacy, they lost to Falcons and Aurora, leaving a tricky match against NAVI on the last day of the group stages.

G2 eventually emerged 2-1 victors, from what was a tight game with plenty of swings and shifts in momentum.

Although G2 performed well against NAVI, it is difficult to see them downing Spirit, who are the second most fancied team according to Polymarket.

Team Falcons vs Team Vitality

Going by recent results, Falcons fans should expect a grand final appearance. And loss. The Saudi Arabian team finished 2^nd in CS Asia, BLAST Rivals, and IEM Rio. In fact, they’ve now finished 2^nd in 7 consecutive S-tier finals.

A lot of those finals losses came against Vitality, who they will have to beat here if they want a hope of overcoming the so-called “m0NESY” curse.

Falcons came through stage 3 with wins over G2, Monte, and NAVI, though they lost to BetBoom.

Their opponents, Vitality, have also featured in a ton of finals. More often than not, over the past couple of years, they have won them.

However, they have shown signs of weakness. Or fatigue. Or lack of practice. They could only finish 5^th in Atlanta, losing to eventual winners NAVI. Here, too, they haven’t been infallible, losing 2-1 to 9z.

Wins against FUT, MOUZ, and BetBoom secured them a spot in the playoffs, though, and before the disappointment in the US, they won BLAST Rivals Spring, IEM RIO, BLAST Open Spring, PGL Cluj-Napoca, IEM Krakow, and StarLadder Budapest.  

Aurora Gaming vs BetBoom Team

Aurora Gaming lost to NAVI in the ESL Pro League final and the MongolZ in last year’s World Cup final. Their latest major achievement was a first-place finish at PGL Masters Bucharest last October.

This tournament, they entered at Stage 3 of the groups, where they finished with a 3-1 record. After beating Monte, they lost 2-1 to Spirit, before claiming 2-0 victories over G2 and 9z, which could stand them in good stead for the lower half of the playoff stages.

To progress deeper, though, Aurora Gaming will first have to see off BetBoom. The Russian team became the first team ever to progress from Stage 1 to the playoffs.

And, they did so by beating some stiff opposition.

First, they overcame Liquid 2-1 in stage 1 before triumphing over the MongolZ by the same scoreline in stage 2. They also swept the Falcons aside 2-0 in stage 3.

However, that is a lot of gaming in a relatively short time, and Aurora may prove a step too far for them.

9z Team vs FURIA

South American team 9z continue to surprise fans. After a decent showing in Astana, where they lost in the quarter final, they were still largely considered a decent local team, and nothing more, coming into Cologne.

Apart from Spirit, who beat them 2-0, it’s fair to say they had a fairly easy Stage 2 draw, beating FlyQuest, Astralis, and TYLOO, all of whom were eliminated at the end of the stage. Stage 3 was a very different ask. They started very strongly with 2-1 wins against PARIVISION and Vitality. It looked like their run might have been over when they lost to Spirit and Aurora, but a 2-0 W over the MongolZ saw them book a quarter-final berth.

9z will face fellow South Americans, FURIA, after the Argentinians swept through stage 3 with 2-0 victories over B8 and BetBoom, as well as a 2-1 win against MOUZ.

In December last year, FURIA briefly topped the VRS charts, but have dropped to 7^th after bowing out of Rio in the semis and losing the Krakow final to Vitality.

They’ve yet to reach the heights of 2025, but they are strongly fancied to progress to the IEM Cologne semifinals.