Vitality and Falcons fall to underdogs on day two of IEM Cologne Major Stage Three

Stage Three of the IEM Cologne Major continued into day two as best-of-threes didn't protect some heavy favorites from taking humbling upsets. Even some favorites that won their series lost a map. The pressure of the Major can make even the strongest teams and players look mortal.

Thanks to the Swiss format, no teams have been eliminated or qualified for the playoffs just yet. That comes tomorrow.

Also read: Get caught up on all the action as Spirit, Vitality reign supreme in first day of IEM Cologne Major Stage Three

PARIVISION 1-2 Monte

After falling to 9z yesterday, PARIVISION continued to stumble as they got upset for a second time. Despite stealing Monte's Mirage pick with a relatively comfortable 13-9 score, a rough T-side kept PARIVISION from finding form on their Ancient pick as Monte won it 13-9. Once Inferno came, an 11-1 thrashing on the T-side all but ended PARIVISION's chances. Monte won the map 13-5, powered by a stunning 20-6 performance from AWPer Aurélien "afro" Drapier.

IEM Cologne Major 2026

Bo3

PARIVISION

1 - 2

Monte

StatisticsOverview

All maps

PARIVISION	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 3.0
Vladislav 'xiELO' Lysov	47 - 40	+7	77.8	71.7%	1.04
Emil 'nota' Moskvitin	39 - 37	+2	74.6	75.0%	1.03
Dzhami 'Jame' Ali	37 - 33	+4	63.0	68.3%	0.91
Ivan 'zweih' Gogin	34 - 42	-8	64.3	71.7%	0.88
Andrey 'BELCHONOKK' Yasinskiy	33 - 46	-13	64.7	75.0%	0.86

Monte	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 3.0
Aleks 'Rainwaker' Petrov	41 - 37	+4	70.4	78.3%	1.17
Jack 'Gizmy' von Spreckelsen	41 - 39	+2	78.4	81.7%	1.14
Aurélien 'afro' Drapier	42 - 35	+7	73.0	66.7%	1.10
Oscar 'AZUWU' Bell	39 - 39	+0	61.7	68.3%	1.04
Aurimas 'Bymas' Pipiras	33 - 41	-8	66.7	71.7%	0.96

Maps

13

Mirage

7

9

Ancient

13

5

Inferno

13

Rainwaker18 kills

Most kills

Rainwaker1.56 rating

Best rating

zweih1.88 rating

Best t-side

nota1.96 rating

Best ct-side

Mirage Rounds

Gizmy19 kills

Most kills

Gizmy1.22 rating

Best rating

nota1.30 rating

Best t-side

BELCHONOKK1.37 rating

Best ct-side

Ancient Rounds

afro20 kills

Most kills

afro2.23 rating

Best rating

afro2.55 rating

Best t-side

Gizmy1.88 rating

Best ct-side

Inferno Rounds

Falcons 0-2 BetBoom

Coming off back-to-back finals, Falcons came into Cologne as one of the favorites to make a deep run. BetBoom decided to put a damper on everyone's expectations by taking them down in a close 2-0. BetBoom picked Nuke, but Falcons seemed like they were cruising to a victory after putting BetBoom down 4-11. However, BetBoom ran it all the way back and took the game in regulation 13-11. On Ancient, BetBoom got a strong start, 9-3. It wasn't clean, but they closed it out 13-10, earning three shots at the playoffs. Kirill "Magnojez" Rodnov was a monster as he put up 108.6 ADR and 47 kills over the series.

IEM Cologne Major 2026

Bo3

Falcons

0 - 2

BetBoom

StatisticsOverview

All maps

Falcons	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 3.0
René 'TeSeS' Madsen	37 - 30	+7	68.8	74.5%	1.18
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov	36 - 31	+5	77.2	63.8%	1.08
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač	31 - 35	-4	76.8	66.0%	0.89
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin	21 - 29	-8	61.6	66.0%	0.85
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen	18 - 36	-18	55.5	63.8%	0.68

BetBoom	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 3.0
Kirill 'Magnojez' Rodnov	47 - 28	+19	108.6	78.7%	1.80
Daniil 'd1Ledez' Kustov	43 - 29	+14	93.3	70.2%	1.26
Timur 'FL4MUS' Marev	25 - 27	-2	56.2	66.0%	0.96
Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenko	24 - 26	-2	56.3	74.5%	0.90
Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov	22 - 33	-11	58.2	68.1%	0.79

Maps

11

Nuke

13

10

Ancient

13

TeSeS21 kills

Most kills

Magnojez1.64 rating

Best rating

TeSeS1.29 rating

Best t-side

Magnojez2.18 rating

Best ct-side

Nuke Rounds

Magnojez26 kills

Most kills

Magnojez1.96 rating

Best rating

Magnojez1.46 rating

Best t-side

Magnojez2.42 rating

Best ct-side

Ancient Rounds

Vitality 1-2 9z

Here's the big one. Even with a rough showing in Atlanta, Vitality were still clear favorites to take the trophy in Cologne. Everything seemed normal as Vitality stole 9z's Inferno pick with relative ease, 13-4. 9z decided to make things interesting and converted a dominant CT-side into a 13-9 win on Mirage, tying the series. On Vitality's home map of Dust2, 9z held their own and won 13-11, giving themselves three chances to make the playoffs and embarrassing Vitality in the process.

IEM Cologne Major 2026

Bo3

Vitality

1 - 2

9z

StatisticsOverview

All maps

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

Maps

13

Inferno

4

9

Mirage

13

11

Dust2

13

mezii17 kills

Most kills

flameZ1.82 rating

Best rating

mezii3.39 rating

Best t-side

flameZ1.90 rating

Best ct-side

Inferno Rounds

meyern20 kills

Most kills

meyern1.66 rating

Best rating

ZywOo1.32 rating

Best t-side

meyern2.26 rating

Best ct-side

Mirage Rounds

ZywOo20 kills

Most kills

dgt1.33 rating

Best rating

ZywOo1.70 rating

Best t-side

mezii1.84 rating

Best ct-side

Dust2 Rounds

Here are the results from the other five matches on day two of Stage Three:

• The MongolZ 2-0 B8

• FURIA 2-1 MOUZ

• FUT 1-2 G2

• NAVI 2-0 Legacy

• Aurora 1-2 Spirit

Here are tomorrow's matches, which begin at 05:00AM:

Also read: launders announces IEM Cologne Major Grand Finals watch party in Toronto