IEM Krakow 2026: The first round of Play-In match-ups have been confirmed

This week is still all about the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 tournament in the world of competitive Counter-Strike 2, as that event will come to a close this coming weekend. But after, there will be no stopping the action, as teams will immediately be travelling to Poland to compete in IEM Krakow 2026.

With the tournament starting on January 28, we now know the confirmed first round of matches for the Play-In portion of the event. The premise of the Play-In is simple, it will be whittling down 16 teams to eight survivors, each of whom will advance to the main event and compete in the Group Stage against the eight invited current titans. As for who the eight invited Group Stage squads are, you can see these below including how they have been seeded into the two groups.

Group A:

• Furia


• The MongolZ


• Natus Vincere


• Team Spirit

Group B:

• Team Vitality


• FaZe Clan


• Mouz


• Team Falcons

Looking back at the Play-In portion of the event, this uses a double-elimination format, meaning two losses and a team is done. With that being the case, the first round of matches in the Upper Bracket has been seeded as follows.

• Aurora Gaming vs. GamerLegion


• Heroic vs. Parivision


• Team Liquid vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas


• Passion UA vs. G2 Esports


• Legacy vs. BC.Game Esports


• FUT Esports vs. 3DMax


• Astralis vs. PaiN Gaming


• NRG vs. B8

Who do you regard as the favourite to win IEM Krakow 2026?