IEM Cologne 2025: Format, schedule, teams

Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2025 marks the start of Counter-Strike 2‘s second half of the year, as the world’s best teams return from a break following the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

Kicking off on July 23rd, 2025, 24 teams from across the world will battle it out for a chance to compete at the LANXESS Arena, the cathedral of Counter-Strike.

Ahead of the event, here’s everything fans need to know about IEM Cologne 2025, including the teams participating, schedule and format.

16 of the 24 teams will begin their IEM Cologne 2025 campaign in the Play-Ins, taking place from July 23rd to 25th.

Teams are drawn into a double-elimination bracket, with the top eight advancing to the Group Stage, running from July 26th to 29th.

The eight teams from the Play-Ins will join eight invited teams and be split into two groups of eight. These teams will then compete in best-of-three matches.

Three teams from each group advance to the Playoffs. The group winners advance to the semi-finals. The runner-up and third-place teams will move to the quarter-final as the high and low seed, respectively.

The Playoffs feature a single-elimination bracket, where the quarter and semi-finals are contested in a best-of-three series. The Grand Final will use a best-of-five to determine the eventual champion.

Below are all of the teams competing in the Play-Ins and the invited Group Stage teams competing at IEM Cologne 2025. The teams were determined by the June Valve Regional Standings (VRS).

Team Vitality will be aiming to continue its dominant run of form with another tournament victory in Cologne. A win would cement the French organisation’s position at the top of the global standings, and in contention for another ESL Grand Slam title.

TYLOO head into the second half of the year on the front foot, after winning FISSURE Playground 1 after spending the majority of the tournament using its coach as a temporary stand-in.

Elsewhere, Team Liquid aims to bounce back from missing out on ESL Pro League Season 22 qualification with a strong showing in Germany.

A whopping $1m (~£741,462) prize pool is on offer at IEM Cologne 2025. Below is a full breakdown on its distribution:

The action begins on July 23rd with the opening day of the Play-Ins. Below are all of the matches taking place:

Fans can tune into the matches across ESL’s Twitch and YouTube channels.