9z turns Stage Three on its head with huge upset over Vitality
Latin American squad 9z have pulled off an insane upset in Stage Three of the IEM Cologne Major 2026, taking down Major favorites Vitality 2-1 in a drawn-out series. The win builds on 9z's day one win over PARIVISION and sees the team climb up to a 2-0 record with a real chance of locking in Major playoffs over the next three days.
The win over Vitality was a real comeback story for 9z as they initially started the series down 1-0 after a fairly one-sided 13-4 loss to Vitality on Inferno. From there, a great CT-side on Mirage saw 9z up 10-2 on their opponent's map pick before holding on long enough to get the map over the line 13-9 thanks to strong play from Ignacio "meyern" Meyer, who posted 14 kills in the second half.
meyern continued to be a difference maker heading into Dust2, with the veteran AWPer posting eight kills in the first half amidst a solid team effort as 9z held Vitality to a 6-6 half despite the Europeans starting off up 4-0 on their CT-side. After switching sides, 9z were admittedly really scrappy and at teams seemingly felt the pressure against the superstars on Vitaltiy, however Matias "HUASOPEEK" Ibañez would have his chance to shine as they forced Vitality all the way to the end of the map before taking it 13-11, locking in the upset.
Vitality9z| Vitality |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan |
46 - 38 | +8 | 81.0 | 74.6% | 1.23 |
 Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut |
45 - 38 | +7 | 82.4 | 74.6% | 1.19 |
 William 'mezii' Merriman |
44 - 34 | +10 | 69.5 | 73.0% | 1.08 |
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
43 - 35 | +8 | 68.2 | 71.4% | 0.99 |
| Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire |
28 - 42 | -14 | 65.4 | 71.4% | 0.73 |
| 9z |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ignacio 'meyern' Meyer |
46 - 39 | +7 | 76.0 | 71.4% | 1.11 |
 Franco 'dgt' Garcia |
39 - 41 | -2 | 69.2 | 68.3% | 1.00 |
| Luciano 'luchov' Herrera |
40 - 43 | -3 | 73.0 | 57.1% | 0.99 |
 Matias 'HUASOPEEK' Ibañez Hernandez |
33 - 44 | -11 | 58.8 | 68.3% | 0.93 |
| Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez |
29 - 44 | -15 | 60.0 | 65.1% | 0.86 |
As ESL put it, 9z's upset win over Vitality has likely dealt a heavy blow to many fans' Pick'Ems while also seriously shaking up the Major as tomorrow's 1-1 matches are seriously stacked. Tomorrow will also see 9z look to secure a historic spot in the Top Eight of the IEM Cologne Major, although the team have a serious challenge as they look set to face off against Spirit at the time of publication.
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