IEM Cologne Play-In Stage matchups & format

IEM Cologne Play-In Stage matchups & format

For a chance at the main event of IEM Cologne 2024 and possibly even a showing at the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, 16 Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports teams are competing in the Play-In stage for eight spots. Here’s what you need to know so you don’t miss out on the action.

IEM Cologne 2024 Play-In details

The IEM Cologne 2024 Play-In stage takes place this week from 7 to 9 August 2024 in Cologne, Germany. A total of 16 teams are competing who didn’t earn direct invites to the main event. At IEM Cologne 2024’s Play-In stage, we are happy to report there will be no best-of-one matches. ESL recently announced that all BO1 matches will be replaced with BO3 for the event and going forward.

Therefore, you can look forward to a double-elimination bracket where all matches are BO3, with the top eight teams advancing to the main event.

Opening matchups:
  • Eternal Fire versus Team Falcons
  • HEROIC versus MIBR
  • Complexity versus ALTERNATE aTTaX
  • paiN Gaming versus Team Liquid
  • BetBoom Team versus 9z Team
  • FURIA Esports versus Imperial Esports
  • The MongolZ versus SAW
  • FlyQuest versus BIG

You can watch all the CS2 esports action from IEM Cologne 2024 by tuning in to the official ESL_CSGO Twitch channel. It will be exciting to see who comes out on top of this huge event! Can Team Spirit win both IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne or will another rise to the challenge?

Header image via Valve.

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