FURIA battle past Astralis into Stage 2

FURIA held off two attempted comebacks by Astralis to progress in Cologne.

FURIA have secured a spot in Stage 2 of IEM Cologne by virtue of a 2-0 win over Astralis, putting a stop to comeback attempts on Nuke (13-11) and Dust2 (13-9).

Despite this result Astralis are not yet done in Cologne, as they have a final chance at qualification later today when they take on the winner of BIG vs. paiN.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2025 Stage 1
25/07/2025	Astralis 18:45 paiN	Match

Astralis posted a woeful T side to kick off their map pick of Nuke, finding very little traction with an up-tempo offense focused on Upper hits and Ramp splits. FURIA fended off the pacey style with ease, Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato shining in particular, racking up a 10-2 lead at the half.

YEKINDAR turns down a free kill to make a sneaky play and win the round

With the sides swapped FURIA also struggled on offense, seeing their limp defaults picked apart by Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz's AWP time and time again. Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis was the man to save his team with two round-winning moments, first making a big-brain play to sneak behind the A defense and second cracking open Ramp with a dry peek, to grant his team a narrow 13-11 victory.

FURIA made another flying start on Dust2, once again on T side, with Danil "⁠molodoy⁠" Golubenko and YEKINDAR finding immense success in terms of opening kills. Astralis showed brief signs of life, but their struggles holding Long proved their undoing, with FURIA opening up a 9-3 lead by halftime.

jabbi destroys FURIA with 4K B hold

Much like on Nuke, Astralis started to work their way back into the game in the second half, methodical defaults working wonders. Just when the Danes were about to level the score FURIA changed the pace and went for an aggressive CT approach, pushing into Upper Tunnels with a bad buy, turning the tide of the half and allowing them to close out the series in two.

FURIA cast off FISSURE Playground disappointment

FURIA endured a difficult campaign at FISSURE Playground 1, opening their season with an early exit at the hands of SAW.

Any worries their pre-player break form was a false dawn have been at least partially assuaged with their early form in Cologne, where FURIA have taken down Astralis and FlyQuest to grab a Stage 2 spot.

YEKINDAR and molodoy were the impact players today, and the team showed resilience to fend off Astralis' attempted comebacks.

More highlights:

• Staehr spins like a Beyblade for USP one-tap 3K

• KSCERATO Glock 4K opens Dust2

• HooXi flabbergasted after YEKINDAR hits BS jumping headshot