IEM Cologne Major Stage One Round One Recap: NA go 2-1 in Round One; ANZ pick up big upsets

Round One of Stage One of the IEM Cologne Major has wrapped up, and before Round Two kicks off in half an hour let's break down what we just saw on the server at the first Major of 2026!

Starting with our hometown heroes, North America went 2-1 in the opening Bo1s, with Liquid and M80 picking up wins while NRG suffered an agonizingly close loss to GamerLegion on Inferno.

• M80 13-8 Lynn Vision on Inferno
• NRG 13-10 GamerLegion on Inferno
• Liquid 13-10 BIG on Nuke

Looking at the tournament as a whole, the big story of Round One is the triumph of Australia's teams, with the boys from down under picking up two bit upsets. FlyQuest claimed a 16-14 win over SINNERS on Ancient while the plucky underdogs of THUNDERdOWNUNDER crushed MIBR 13-6 on Ancient.

For most people, their 0-3s in the Pick 'Ems are ruined as Sharks also shocked HEROIC with a 13-10 win on Nuke.

The Round Two matchups have been drawn, with the following games set to start in short order:

• HEROIC v. Lynn Vision
• B8 v. THUNDERdOWNUNDER
• MIBR v. TYLOO
• SINNERS v. NRG
• GamerLegion v. FlyQuest
• M80 v. Sharks
• BetBoom v. Liquid
• BIG v. Gaimin Gladiators

HEROIC v. Lynn Vision is already underway, so grab a coffee and get ready for more Major action!