IEM Krakow 2026: Group Stage Matchups Announced

The IEM Krakow 2026 Play-In Stage has concluded, and ESL has announced the Group Stage matchups. The 16 participating teams will be categorized into two groups; only six teams will progress to the playoffs from this double-elimination setup.

Overview of the Tournament

IEM Krakow 2026 is a prestigious Counter-Strike 2 event featuring 24 different teams. The event started with a Play-In double-elimination stage, with the best eight teams moving forward to join eight already invited teams for the Group Stage. The tournament, with a prize pool of $1,000,000 USD, takes place offline at the TAURON Arena Kraków. The dates span from January 28 to February 8, 2026.

Group Stage Information

The double-elimination Group Stage is scheduled from January 31 to February 3, 2026. Here, the 16 teams are divided into two groups, and each of them plays all Bo3 matches. The top three teams from each group will then proceed to the Playoffs – with the winners advancing to the semifinals, runners-up progressing to the quarterfinals (high seeds), and the teams securing the third places also heading to the quarterfinals (low seeds).

The Participating Teams

This year’s lineup of teams competing in the group stage is quite impressive. Group A consists of FURIA, The MongolZ, Natus Vincere (NAVI), Team Spirit, FUT Esports, G2 Esports, PARIVISION, and Astralis. Group B is made up of Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, MOUZ, Team Falcons, BC.Game Esports, 3DMAX, NRG, and possibly Aurora.

Group Stage Schedule

The matches of the Group Stage are planned to run for four days, starting from January 31, consisting of numerous matches for each day. The start times of the matches for each day (in PST/CET) are as follows:

• Saturday, January 31: The MongolZ vs G2 and NAVI vs PARIVISION (5am PST), FURIA vs FUT and Spirit vs Astralis (7:30 am PST), and Vitality vs BC.Game and FaZe vs 3DMAX (10 am PST).
• Sunday, February 1: MOUZ vs NRG and Falcons vs Aurora (5am PST), followed by Group A upper/lower bracket matches from 7:30 am to 10 am PST.
• Monday, February 2: Group B upper/lower bracket matches from 5 am to 7:30 am PST, and Group A lower semis at 10 am PST.
• Tuesday, February 3: Group B lower semis/finals and Group A upper final from 5 am to 10 am PST.

Playoffs and Final Stage

Following the Group Stage, the tournament will progress into the playoffs. This is a single-elimination stage, with all matches being Bo3, except for the Bo5 Grand Final. The playoffs will take place from around February 4 to 8. However, no results or schedule details for the playoffs are currently available.

Additional Details

For those interested in the live statistics for viewership or sponsored content by Intel, DHL, and FACEIT, these can be checked on escharts.com. In other news around the tournament, player ‘s1mple’ from BC.Game stood out by sweeping Legacy in the Play-In. Looking ahead, future Major tournaments may possibly be hosted in Buenos Aires or Shanghai in 2027. For real-time live results and detailed team rosters, services like Flashscore and Liquipedia provide comprehensive and organized information.