After upsets, shock eliminations, and pure Counter-Strike passion, the Group Stage has come to a close, and the IEM Cologne Playoffs are on the horizon.
Here’s who has qualified, who has excelled, and who has been shown the door:
IEM Cologne Playoffs: Qualified teams
Six teams begin their Playoffs journey on Friday, August 1st:
- Team Vitality
- Team Spirit
- The MongolZ
- MOUZ
- FURIA
- Natus Vincere (NAVI)
Team Vitality and Team Spirit finished at the top of their respective groups, rewarding them with automatic semifinal qualification.
MOUZ, FURIA, The MongolZ, and NAVI will play in the Quarterfinals at the IEM Cologne Playoffs. Scheduled for August 1st, these games will take place on the Cologne stage. During the Playoffs, a loss results in immediate elimination.
The winners of MOUZ vs FURIA and The MongolZ vs NAVI will go on to face Team Vitality and Team Spirit in the Semifinals on August 2nd.
IEM Cologne’s Grand Final will take place on Monday, August 3rd.
Who were the standout players in the Cologne Group Stage?
Group Stage statistics show that the best-rated player was Team Spirit’s Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets. He averaged a rating of 1.52, boosting Team Spirit’s odds of winning the tournament on Counter-Strike betting sites.
Interestingly, despite being eliminated in consecutive crushing defeats to The MongolZ and Furia, Team Falcons’ Maksim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin was the second-best rated player in the Group Stage.
Team Vitality was also able to continue their winning streak, winning all four of their Group Stage games. They were able to replicate their Austin Major Grand Final victory over The MongolZ 2-1 in the Group A Upper Bracket Final.
As the strongest performing Counter-Strike team in 2025, they are one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
FURIA also deserve recognition for their victory over Team Falcons and G2 Esports. Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo won IEM Cologne in 2016 and 2017, but has not made it to a Cologne Playoffs stage since.
Thanks to the determined and coordinated performances from the whole FURIA roster, he has made it back again after six years.
Goodbye FaZe, goodbye Falcons: unexpected underperformance and continuing roster projects
Neither FaZe Clan nor Team Falcons will make an appearance in the IEM Cologne Playoffs.
Team Falcons lost to FURIA in the Group A Lower Bracket Semifinal, eliminating them from the tournament. This defeat followed their 2-0 defeat to The MongolZ in the Upper Bracket.
After signing young rookie player kyousuke from Team Spirit Academy, expectations were that the Falcons could avoid replicating their devastating early elimination in the BLAST Austin Major. While kyousuke became the second-highest rated player in the Group Stage, the rest of the team could not step up to the plate.
The disparity between kyouduke and his teammates has raised serious questions around the Falcons’ Counter-Strike roster and why their Haily Mary roster change has not had the desired impact.
FaZe also failed to achieve their desired results. They lost to NAVI twice – once in the Group B Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, and then again in the Group B Lower Bracket Final.
A rejuvenated Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants has not been enough to save FaZe’s seemingly disjointed roster.
More work is needed if FaZe Clan plan to make their way back to the top of Counter-Strike esports.
Hannah is a writer specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports and Apex Legends, although it may never surpass her drive to passionately beat her friends in every game of Mariokart. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ESI London, EGX, Discover: Esports and many League of Legends watch parties.