ESL releases IEM Krakow invites

ESL have just announced the teams that have been invited to their first event of 2026, IEM Krakow.

The top 24 teams in the Global VRS Standings were invited to the event, with NA side NRG sneaking into the final invite spot thanks to their win at FRAG Miami 2. Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev will also appear at the event after BC.Game acquired SAW's core and thus their invite into the event.

The Krakow event will be taking over from the iconic IEM Katowice, which was a mainstay ESL event for years. Vitality won the last IEM Katowice tournament as a part of their dominant first half of 2025.

The top eight teams in the VRS rankings will start in Stage 2 of the tournament, while teams ninth and onwards will start in Stage 1.

Here is the full team list for IEM Krakow:

Stage 2 invites:

Stage 1 invites: