Sixteen teams are fighting for the bulk of the $1 million prize pool.
The IEM Cologne 2023 Play-Ins ended on July 28 with several teams advancing to the Group Stage. Now, 16 teams will fight for the lion's share of the $1 million prize pool. Read on for the list of every team that advanced to the IEM Cologne 2023 Group Stage.
IEM Cologne 2023 Group Stage teams
Many of the fan-favorites advanced to the Group Stage. These teams included Ninjas in Pyjamas, Astralis, and Monte. The Play-Ins also had some underdog stories in the form of The MongolZ and OG.
- MOUZ
- Fnatic
- Astralis
- Monte
- The MongolZ
- OG
- 9INE
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- G2 Esports
- FaZe Clan
- Natus Vincere
- ENCE
- GamerLegion
- Vitality
- Heroic
- Cloud9
IEM Cologne 2023 Group Stage opening matches
All of matches in this stage will be under the best-of-three (Bo3) format.
Group A
- Heroic versus The MongolZ
- Monte versus GamerLegion
- Cloud9 versus Fnatic
- 9INE versus ENCE
Group B
- Vitality versus OG
- MOUZ versus Natus Vincere
- G2 versus Astralis
- FaZe versus Ninjas in Pyjamas
Ninjas in Pyjamas players survive scare against Imperial
The final match of the Play-Ins was Ninjas in Pyjamas versus Imperial. Although the Swedish team entered the tournament as fan-favorites, their opponent's new squad made them sweat for the remaining spot in the Group Stage.
Ninjas in Pyjamas lost the first map, Overpass, in a close 13-16. The team then won the second map, Ancient, in an easy 16-6. During the decider map, Nuke, both teams put up a good fight.
Things didn't go well for Ninjas in Pyjamas in the 14-14 round, but Danyyl "headtr1ck" Valitov survived with one health and gave the Swedish squad the match point. João "felps" Vasconcellos took his team to overtime, but Imperial didn't capitalize on the momentum.
Team Liquid's international roster results
During the pre-season transfer window, Liquid moved its roster to Europe after eight years in North America. The team said goodbye to legend Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski.
Unfortunately, the team's new roster didn't make it to the Group Stage. Liquid eliminated BIG at IEM Cologne 2023, but lost to 9INE and Astralis.
The IEM Cologne 2023 Group Stage will kick off on July 29. The tournament will run through Aug. 6 before crowning the winning team.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS:GO news and updates.