IEM Cologne is one of the last big Counter-Strike 2 tournaments before the Perfect World Shanghai Major, and multiple top teams are set to duke it out for the trophy in Germany.
The $1 million prize pool event will run through August and is being marketed at the “Cathedral of Counter-Strike” by ESL as the organizer promotes the decades-old tournament via iconic moments from past events.
Top teams like Team Spirit, FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, and NAVI will all be in attendance shortly after participating in the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia. They will go up against whichever squads from the Play-ins can earn the right to compete in the main event.
The crowd from IEM Cologne 2023.
This article will be updated as the action unfolds on stage.
Stream
You can watch the actions from the ESL Counter-Strike Twitch and YouTube channels and through FACEIT Watch for multiview.
CS2 streamers like ohnePixel will also be co-streaming the event as it happens.
STREAM EMBED
Format & Bracket
ESLIEM Cologne 2024 Stage 1 bracket.
IEM Cologne will have a slightly different format than the tournaments before it. The event will not feature best-of-one matches as even games in the Play-in stage will be best-of-three series.
Stage 1 of the tournament, the Play-in stage, will feature 16 teams in a double-elimination bracket vying for eight spots in Stage 2.
Stage 2 features a double elimination group stage with two groups of eight teams with invited squads taking on teams from Stage 1. The event will culminate in a Playoff Stage where the top three teams from each group face off in a single elimination bracket to crown the champion.
IEM Cologne 2024 Match Schedule
You can find the full tournament schedule below.
Stage 1 (August 7-9)
Day 1: August 7
Day 2: August 8
Day 3: August 9
Stage 2 (August 10-13)
Day 4: August 10
Day 5: August 11
Day 6: August 12
Day 7: August 13
Playoffs (August 16-17)
Day 8: August 16
Day 9: August 17
Day 8: August 18
IEM Cologne 2024 Teams and Players
The teams and players who qualified for Stage 2 of the tournament were invited thanks to winning previous IEM events from this season and placing high on the ESL World Rankings.
Teams in Stage 1 were invited based on their ESL World Ranking and regional ESL rankings. ALTERNATE aTTaX is the only team that qualified for the tournament through an open qualifier.
