Catch up on Day 3 of IEM Major Cologne Stage Three as Spirit survive 9z scare to make playoffs
The first two playoff spots have been confirmed at the IEM Cologne Major 2026. 9z have stolen the show in this stage, beating the behemoth of Vitality in a 1-0 matchup. Their playoff coronation will have to wait though, as they lost a 2-1 thriller to Danil “donk” Kryshkovets and Spirit as donk dropped 77 frags in the series, including 30 in the final map.
A resurgent FURIA also advanced flawlessly, beating MOUZ and BetBoom to confirm a playoff berth.
The first two eliminated teams were also set, as PARIVISION and B8 were eliminated 0-3 at the hands of Legacy and FUT, respectively. Vitality bounced back in the 1-1 match after falling to 9z in the 1-0 pool by defeating MOUZ 2-1.
FURIA 2-0 BetBoom 
FURIA, who came into the third stage as the top seed in the Americas, haven't experienced the success in 2026 that they found at the end of 2025. The Brazilians have found their stride at the Major, beating B8 and MOUZ before a solid 2-0 of BetBoom in the 2-0 match.
It was strong finishes on both maps that led FURIA to the win, as they surrendered only one second-half round in the series.
BetBoomFURIA| BetBoom |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirill 'Magnojez' Rodnov |
25 - 30 | -5 | 78.2 | 55.3% | 0.96 |
| Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenko |
26 - 26 | +0 | 73.1 | 65.8% | 0.91 |
| Daniil 'd1Ledez' Kustov |
20 - 27 | -7 | 59.7 | 63.2% | 0.88 |
| Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov |
12 - 27 | -15 | 42.4 | 60.5% | 0.60 |
| Timur 'FL4MUS' Marev |
16 - 31 | -15 | 44.4 | 50.0% | 0.60 |
| FURIA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
39 - 24 | +15 | 99.8 | 76.3% | 1.61 |
| Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato |
36 - 19 | +17 | 96.2 | 76.3% | 1.50 |
 Danil 'molodoy' Golubenko |
31 - 20 | +11 | 85.9 | 73.7% | 1.24 |
| Yuri 'yuurih' Santos |
21 - 19 | +2 | 69.1 | 73.7% | 1.00 |
| Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo |
14 - 17 | -3 | 40.8 | 76.3% | 0.96 |
Spirit 2-1 9z 
Spirit and 9z traded comebacks in the first two maps, as the South Americans overturned a 9-3 deficit on Overpass to win in overtime before Spirit returned the favor on Mirage.
Dust2 was the finale the series deserved, as Spirit came back from 11-6 down to force overtime and eventually win 16-14 in OT behind donk’s final map 30 bomb.
Spirit9z| Spirit |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets |
77 - 59 | +18 | 92.2 | 80.5% | 1.43 |
| Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov |
71 - 50 | +21 | 83.5 | 78.2% | 1.22 |
| Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev |
57 - 55 | +2 | 75.7 | 72.4% | 1.09 |
 Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia |
48 - 60 | -12 | 66.6 | 69.0% | 0.92 |
 Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich |
45 - 65 | -20 | 54.9 | 66.7% | 0.76 |
| 9z |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Franco 'dgt' Garcia |
71 - 57 | +14 | 92.0 | 77.0% | 1.28 |
 Ignacio 'meyern' Meyer |
53 - 54 | -1 | 69.3 | 70.1% | 1.02 |
 Matias 'HUASOPEEK' Ibañez Hernandez |
61 - 62 | -1 | 69.6 | 71.3% | 1.01 |
| Luciano 'luchov' Herrera |
62 - 63 | -1 | 78.7 | 72.4% | 0.98 |
| Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez |
42 - 62 | -20 | 53.5 | 65.5% | 0.77 |
Here are all the results from day 3 at IEM Cologne Stage 3:
• 
NAVI 2-1 The MongolZ 
• 
Aurora 2-0 G2
• Legacy 2-0 PARIVISION
• FUT 2-1 B8
• Falcons 2-1 Monte
• Vitality 2-1 MOUZ
And here are the matchups for day 4:
2-1 pool
• BetBoom v. Vitality
• 9z v. Aurora
• Falcons v. NAVI
1-2 pool
• MOUZ v. FUT
• G2 v. Legacy
• The MongolZ v. Monte
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