ESL reveals IEM Cologne 2024 brackets

25-7-2024 17:49

The opening matchups for the Play-in, as well as the brackets for the Play-in and group stage, are now known.

ESL has announced the brackets for IEM Cologne 2024, revealing the opening Play-in matchups and the brackets for both the Play-in and the main event.

This announcement comes just after ESL stated that best-of-one play had been removed from IEM Cologne entirely. Previously, the opening matchups of the Play-in were BO1s.

ESL removes BO1 format from IEM Cologne 2024

From August 7-9, 16 teams will come together to compete in IEM Cologne 2024 Play-in, where a double-elimination BO3 bracket will decide which eight squads proceed to the main event.

The rest of IEM Cologne will take place August 10-18. Double-elimination BO3 play will continue in the group stage of the main event, where the top team from each group will head to the semi-finals, whilst second and third proceed to the quarter-finals.

A single-elimination bracket will take over for the playoffs, where all games will be BO3 except the grand final, which will be BO5.

Some interesting matchups have been presented in the opening round of the Play-in, with one such matchup set to be contested between Imperial and FURIA. The all-Brazilian clash will see former FURIA man Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo lead a Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles-less Imperial side into battle.

The closest opening Play-in matchup on paper sees Falcons take on Eternal Fire; both teams are on the cusp of the top 10, and both sit side by side in the HLTV world ranking.

The opening matchups and main event group stage distribution are as follows. To see the full brackets, check out the play-in event page and the main event page.

Play-in

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2024 Play-in
07/08/2024	FlyQuest 10:30 BIG	Match
07/08/2024	The MongolZ 10:30 SAW	Match
07/08/2024	3DMAX 13:50 9z	Match
07/08/2024	HEROIC 14:15 MIBR	Match
07/08/2024	Complexity 15:45 ALTERNATE aTTaX	Match
07/08/2024	Eternal Fire 17:30 Falcons	Match
07/08/2024	FURIA 18:45 Imperial	Match
07/08/2024	paiN 20:40 Liquid	Match

Group Stage

Group A

Group B

2024-07-25 17:49

huge!

2024-07-25 17:50

ez4navi

4 replies

BIG vs Alternate aTTaX in Grand Final. /hopium

2024-07-25 19:20

3 replies

BIG are onliners, they will NEVER win a LAN event.

2024-07-25 21:22

2 replies

he didnt say BIG would win the finals. Hometown boys Alternate aTTax wins it all in the Grand Final.

2024-07-26 05:43

Onliners.....they are just not good enough, period.

2024-07-27 11:15

not ez for Liquid .

hype

Doesn't Group A look much stronger than B?

2024-07-25 17:51

9 replies

yes but thats how rankings work

2024-07-25 17:52

6 replies

I am also a Na'Vi fan and I am worrying that they won't make the playoffs with such strong opposition :)

2024-07-25 17:53

5 replies

nah G2 and spirit are on different side of the bracket than navi so they would meet them only at the final round which is just for seedings not elimination, astralis is on the same side with navi and its the easiest of the group.

2024-07-25 17:55

If Astralis all perform they can beat navi

2024-07-25 18:09

That is what I am afraid off. Astralis have a very solid lineup that can beat any other team on their best day.

2024-07-25 18:17

That’s what im hoping for, navi took out my goat Niko too many times in playoffs it aint happening again

2024-07-25 18:29

may I have some of what you're having? Haven't had trips like that in a while

2024-07-25 22:04

no astralis balances it out for me

2024-07-25 18:51

1 reply

Yeah they are the only sub par team in the group stage

2024-07-25 19:02

3 best teams in the world all in group A + navi?? stacked

blud thought we wouldn't notice astralis in there💀💀😭

2024-07-26 13:58

how tf col, ef and falcons are in the same bracket

Esl ranking

2024-07-25 19:45

maybe this time Complexity can make it out of groups lmao

2024-07-25 17:56

Group A fuckin stacked

2024-07-25 17:57

EVER BRAZIL vs BRAZIL, WTF????

2024-07-25 18:04

Tough task for MOUZ, looking forward to see them

2024-07-25 18:38

not group A at least

2024-07-25 18:52

Yeah this group looks stacked. But i have a feeling strong FaZe will be back at Cologne and you can't underestimate VP. Vitality looks bad and imo they will bomb out, just like in Kato

2024-07-25 20:02

Will alistair still be playing for fly quest?

2024-07-25 18:41

It's sad that I can't even be sure as a COL fan that we're gonna beat whoever that bum ass team is.

2024-07-25 19:03

If Grim and Floppy disappear and we have to 3v5 a team on home soil, I don’t like our chances.

2024-07-25 19:26

Sweet put both Asian/OCE teams in the WORST POSSIBLE TIME SLOT

2024-07-25 19:09

You can enjoy the VOD, friend. Regards

2024-07-25 20:18

Don’t call me friend, mate. The VOD’s are ass, you can see when the show ends so it spoils the finish.

2024-07-25 23:39

goodluck 9z

2024-07-25 19:27

RIP German invites next year as far as I understood the Valve rulebook changes. Might be an argument for better quality CS, but sure isn't an argument for the crowd in the arena. Sadge.

2024-07-25 20:53