ESL revealed the whopping 32 teams invited to IEM Cologne

One of the most popular and iconic events on the Counter-Strike 2 competitive calendar is IEM Cologne, which sees the best squads and organisations from around the world travelling to the German city for an intense tournament where $1.25 million is on the line.

With the 2026 event planned for June 2-21, now the ESL has confirmed all 32 teams who will be in-attendance, revealing how the various organisations have been split across the three phases of action.

The seeding has been arranged based on recent performances elsewhere, with the highest-ranked squads able to skip the 'qualification' rounds and simply appear in the latter stages. To this end, here is how the teams are arranged.

Stage 1:

• GamerLegion


• BIG


• BetBoom Team


• B8


• Heroic


• Sinners Esports


• M80


• NRG


• Sharks Esports


• Gaimin Gladiators


• MiBR


• Team Liquid


• Tyloo


• Lynn Vision Gaming


• Thunderdownunder


• FlyQuest

Stage 2:

• Team Spirit


• Astralis


• G2 Esports


• FUT Esports


• Monte


• 9z Team


• PaiN Gaming


• Legacy

Stage 3:

• Team Vitality


• Natus Vincere


• Parivision


• Aurora Gaming


• Team Falcons


• Mouz


• Furia


• The MongolZ

Stage 1 will happen between June 2-5 and will knock out eight teams. The eight survivors will advance to Stage 2 between June 6-9, where again the bottom eight teams are eliminated and the top eight advance. This then leads to Stage 3 between June 11-15, where, you guessed it, eight teams are knocked out and eight teams progress to the conclusive playoffs.

With these invitees in mind, who do you see as a favourite for IEM Cologne?