The invites for the upcoming IEM Cologne Major 2026 have been finalized, following the completion of all relevant tier-2 VRS LANs. With Urban Riga Open Season 4 and HLC Belgrade PRO handing out the final batch of ranking points, the 32 teams that will head to the Cathedral of Counter-Strike have been confirmed. Here’s the complete list of invited teams across the three stages of the major.
Stage 3: Vitality lead the EU-dominant pack
After the EU-dominant playoffs at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, the old continent has received six invite slots to the top 16 directly. Given their unbreakable grip on the throne of CS, Vitality ofcourse come into the event as the top seed, with recent playoff regulars in NAVI, PARIVISION, and Aurora in tow.
Related—Vitality’s 22-map win streak puts them second only to NIP
- Vitality (EU)
- NAVI (EU)
- PARIVISION (EU)
- Aurora (EU)
- Falcons (EU)
- MOUZ (EU)
- FURIA (Americas)
- The MongolZ (Asia)
Stage 2: Spirit drop a level after shaky 2026
The Boris “magixx” Vorobyev’s IGL experiment has so far failed to level Spirit up as his star Danil “donk” Kryshkovets would have hoped for. Instead, the team has consistently lost every single playoffs game its been in. That has resulted in Spirit dipping down into the Stage 2, though they will hope to right that wrong in the event itself. They are joined in Stage 2 by three South American squads, and the plucky underdogs of EU.
- Spirit (EU)
- Astralis (EU)
- G2 (EU)
- FUT (EU)
- Monte (EU)
- 9z (Americas)
- paiN (AM)
- Legacy (AM)
Stage 1: Liquid sneak into Cologne
The headline of Stage 1 has to be Liquid. The team’s swap deal for Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa from G2 drew the ire of the community when it was announced, but for a moment it looked like the team might fail to earn an invite despite swapping over to the Americas region. In the end though, an ill-timed loss for Passion UA gave Liquid their ticket into Stage 1. Alongside them are a number of exciting rosters from across regions, including the likes of BetBoom, BIG, and THUNDERdOWNUNDER.
Related—Team Liquid returns to North American core with malbsMd-NertZ trade
- GamerLegion (EU)
- BIG (EU)
- BetBoom (EU)
- B8 (EU)
- HEROIC (EU)
- SINNERS (EU)
- M80 (Americas)
- NRG (Americas)
- Sharks (Americas)
- Gaimin Gladiators (Americas)
- MIBR (Americas)
- Liquid (Americas)
- TYLOO (Asia)
- Lynn Vision (Asia)
- THUNDERdOWNUNDER (Asia)
- FlyQuest (Asia)
The 32-teams are locked in, but there’s still a number of Tier-1 events left in the calendar until the IEM Cologne Major 2026. For now, teams head back from their VRS LANs to PGL Bucharest 2026.
