ESL unveils Cologne qualifiers

Running from April 22 to May 20, the qualifiers will see three teams, two from Europe and one from North America, secure spots at the prestigious event, whose playoffs will take place from July 7-9 at Lanxess Arena.

In both regions, the qualifiers will consist of two open cups and one closed bracket. The open stages will feature a single-elimination bracket, with every match being played in a best-of-one format except the final, which will be a best-of-three clash.

Teams can now sign up for the ESL One Cologne qualifiers 

The winners of the open cups will automatically move on to the closed stages. In Europe, there will be six invited teams, while in North America there will be just four as two of them will earn a bye into the semifinals.

Below you can find the schedule and the registration link for the qualifiers:

Europe (Two Spots): 

• Open Qualifier #1 (April 22-23) - Register
• Open Qualifier #2 (April 28-29) - Register

• Closed Qualifier (May 21) 

North America (One Spot): 

• Open Qualifier #1 (April 22-23) - Register
• Open Qualifier #2 (April 29-30) - Register

• Closed Qualifier (May 20) 

FaZe, Fnatic, Natus Vincere, SK Gaming and Virtus.pro are the teams confirmed so far for ESL One Cologne, which will take place just one week before PGL Major Krakow begins. More invitees are expected to be revealed by ESL in the weeks to come.