ESL One Cologne groups, schedule revealed

ESL has revealed how the teams have been split into the two double-elimination groups for the upcoming ESL One Cologne event.

The tournament will open with the current No.1 team in the world Liquid taking on MVP PK, and with Natus Vincere facing MOUZ on what will be Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov's debut for the CIS team.

NRG will go up against FURIA in a rematch of the recent ECS Season 7 Finals group encounter, which the North Americans won 2-0, while FaZe will be taking on Renegades.

Na`Vi will kick off the action against mousesports

In Group B, all eyes will be on the debutants as Lucas "⁠LUCAS1⁠" Teles will play his first match for MIBR against fnatic, while Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora will make his first appearance in a Ninjas in Pyjamas jersey against Vitality.

Astralis and ENCE, the heavy favourites in the group, will be both confident about their chances to reach the upper bracket semi-finals after being paired with BIG and HEROIC, respectively.

The double-elimination group stage will be played backstage from July 2-4 and feature a best-of-three format after the first round of fixtures. The group winners will secure direct entry into the semi-finals, while the second and third-placed teams will advance to the quarter-finals.

The playoffs will be held at the Lanxess-Arena and will culminate with the best-of-five grand final on Sunday at 16:00 .

The groups for ESL One Cologne are the following:

Group A
Liquid
Natus Vincere
FaZe
FURIA
NRG
Renegades
MOUZ
MVP PK

Group B
Astralis
MIBR
Vitality
ENCE
HEROIC
Ninjas in Pyjamas
fnatic
BIG

Below you can find the complete schedule for the tournament:

Tuesday, July 2
12:00 - Liquid vs. MVP PK | BO1
12:00 - Natus Vincere vs. MOUZ | BO1
13:10 - FaZe vs. Renegades | BO1
13:10 - FURIA vs. NRG | BO1
14:20 - Astralis vs. BIG | BO1
14:20 - MIBR vs. fnatic | BO1
15:30 - Vitality vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas | BO1
15:30 - ENCE vs. HEROIC | BO1
16:40 - Group A lower-bracket round 1 | BO3
16:40 - Group A upper-bracket semi-final #1 | BO3
20:10 - Group A lower-bracket round 1 | BO3
20:10 - Group A upper-bracket semi-final #2 | BO3

Wednesday, July 3
12:00 - Group B lower-bracket round 1 | BO3
12:00 - Group B lower-bracket round 2 | BO3
15:30 - Group A lower-bracket semi-final #1 | BO3
15:30 - Group B upper-bracket semi-final #1 | BO3
19:00 - Group A lower-bracket semi-final #2 | BO3
19:00 - Group B upper-bracket semi-final #2 | BO3

Thursday, July 4
12:00 - Group B lower-bracket semi-final #1 | BO3
12:00 - Group B lower-bracket semi-final #2 | BO3
15:30 - Group A upper-bracket final | BO3
15:30 - Group A lower-bracket final | BO3
19:00 - Group B upper-bracket final | BO3
19:00 - Group B lower-bracket final | BO3

Friday, July 5
15:00 - Quarter-Final #1 | BO3
18:50 - Quarter-Final #2 | BO3

Saturday, July 6
15:00 - Semi-Final #1 | BO3
18:50 - Semi-Final #2 | BO3

Sunday, July 7
16:00 - Grand Final | BO5