Team Vitality and FURIA advance to IEM Chengdu 2025 semifinals

Jonno Nicholson
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Image of FURIA Counter-Strike player Molodoy making a heart shape with his hands while teammates celebrate in the background
Image credit: ESL FACEIT Group

Team Vitality and FURIA have advanced to the semifinals of IEM Chengdu 2025 following victories in their respective quarterfinals matches.

The French esports organisation defeated Astralis in a hard-fought best-of-three series, while FURIA bested The MongolZ in the second match of the day.

Team Vitality Outlasts Astralis

After navigating its way through the Group B lower bracket, Team Vitality booked its place in the Playoffs, with Astralis standing in its way of another semifinal appearance. 

An ace from Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan shut down any momentum from the opposition on map one, Inferno, allowing Team Vitality to cruise to a convincing 13-7 victory to open the series. 

On map two, Nuke, Astralis started on the front foot, but ended the first half all square at six rounds apiece. The Danes managed to keep the game close; however, Team Vitality eventually edged to map point.

Still, Astralis kept chipping away to force overtime before four eliminations from Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz gave the team a slender 14-13 lead. Team Vitality was left unable to respond, leaving Astralis to level the series with a 16-14 win on Nuke to force Mirage.

The second half pistol round proved pivotal for Team Vitality in the final map, with flameZ scoring three eliminations in the team’s opening defensive round. The momentum continued to roll, with the French organisation winning seven rounds to secure a 13-7 victory and a 2-1 series win. 

Team Vitality advances to the semifinals of IEM Chengdu 2025, where it takes on MOUZ for a spot in the Grand Final. The match will be the 11th time the two sides have met this year.

FURIA Sweeps The MongolZ

Having topped the November Valve Regional Standings (VRS) at the start of the month, FURIA continues its impressive run of form despite its defeat to MOUZ in the upper bracket final of Group B.

Even with Unudelger ‘controlez’ Baasanjargal as a stand-in, The MongolZ have shown signs of brilliance as it adapts to a new starting lineup, and looked to give the world’s best Counter-Strike 2 team a run for its money. 

Any momentum carried from The MongolZ’ Group Stage campaign was crushed on its own map pick, Mirage, with FURIA cruising to a 13-5 victory. The MongolZ looked to bounce back on Overpass, taking the first four defensive rounds to build an early lead. 

Nevertheless, FURIA’s attacking prowess shone through for the remainder of the first half, taking eight consecutive rounds. A late MongolZ resurgence in the early stages of the second half was shut down quickly by the AWP of Danil ‘molodoy’ Golubenko. The rookie excelled in the final rounds to wrap up a 13-10 victory and a convincing 2-0 sweep. 

FURIA makes its way to the second semifinal, where an in-form Team Falcons awaits for what promises to be a highly competitive contest.

IEM Chengdu 2025 Semi Finals

Taking place on November 8th, 2025, the IEM Chengdu 2025 semi-finals will see the four remaining teams battle it out for a place in the Grand Final.

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

Jonno Nicholson

Writer
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Jonno is a writer for Esports Insider and has been part of the team since 2019. Over the past ten years, he's written for several outlets including Gfinity, GGRecon, and Radio Times. As an avid sim racer, he aims to provide insight on one of the fastest growing sectors in esports.
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