ESL reveal teams invited to IEM Cologne 2023

One of the most iconic tournaments in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history, IEM Cologne 2023, is getting closer, and we bring you all the details announced by ESL, the event organizers.

With the season over and players on their summer vacation, the first tournament on the horizon for the new season will be IEM Cologne 2023. In this tournament, we will have the participation of every one of the teams that are at the top of the world rankings according to the ESL Ranking. In addition, we will also have the participation of different teams that have been surprised throughout 2023.

This is the best time to travel to Cologne, Germany, for the “Cathedral of CS” to cheer on your favorite players. In addition, there are two possibilities why this tournament should be one of the most watched recently. First, it may be the last CS:GO tournament before transitioning to the new game. While in recent hours, there has been much talk that this tournament could be played on Counter-Strike 2.

ESL reveals details about IEM Cologne 2023

Throughout the history of CS:GO, the LANXESS arena has hosted many of the most spectacular battles that will undoubtedly be in the hearts of CS:GO fans. However, the fact that CS2 is very close to launching worldwide makes us think that either it will be the last professional CS:GO tournament, or it will simply be the first one for Counter-Strike 2. Likewise, what is confirmed at the time of writing this article is that it will be played on CS:GO.

IEM Cologne 2023 is about six weeks away from starting, as it will be played from July 25 to August 6, 2023. As tournaments have been in recent months, the IEM Cologne will have the Play-In Phase and Group Phase behind closed doors; while the playoff matches are played in the LANXESS arena.

Format and schedule of IEM Cologne 2023

As mentioned, the IEM Cologne will have three phases: Play-In, Group Stage, and Playoffs. Below, we will show all the details regarding the schedule and format of each phase.

Play-In

The Play-In phase will be played from July 25-26, 2023, and the 16 teams invited by the ESL will fight to be the top eight teams to qualify for the Group Phase. In this phase, the teams face each other in a Double-Elimination format, where all opening matches are best-of-one (BO1). Then, all matches are best-of-three (BO3).

Group Stage

The Group Stage of the IEM Cologne 2023 will start one day after the end of the Play-In Phase, i.e., on July 27, and will last for the following three days. In the Group Phase, we will have two groups of eight teams, each in a Double-Elimination format.

Then, the top three teams from each group will advance to the IEM Cologne playoffs, where:

The winner of the group advances directly to the semifinals, while the second and third-place teams start the playoffs from the quarterfinals.

Playoffs

Finally, we have the last phase of the tournament, the playoffs, which will be played from August 4-6, 2023. As in the tournaments organized by the ESL, the playoffs are played in a Single Elimination format, where the matches are best of three (BO3) except the grand final, which is best of five (BO5).

Teams invited to IEM Cologne 2023

Considering the above, we can see that in the IEM Cologne 2023, we will participate in 24 teams. Eight teams are waiting directly in the Group Phase, while the remaining 16 start in the Play-In Phase.

Below, we will show all the invited teams for the IEM Cologne 2023:

Teams in Group Stage

• G2 Esports – IEM Katowice
• FaZe Clan – ESL Pro League S17
• Team Vitality – IEM Rio
• ENCE – IEM Dallas
• Heroic – IEM World Ranking
• Cloud9 – IEM World Ranking
• NaVi – IEM World Ranking
• Team GamerLegion – IEM World Ranking

Teams in the Play-In Phase

• MOUZ
• Apeks
• 9INE
• FURIA Esports
• Team Liquid
• Imperial Esports
• TheMongolz
• Grayhound Gaming
• BIG Academy
• Fnatic
• paiN Gaming
• Monte Esports
• NiP
• FORZE
• Astralis
• Into The Breach

Today all #ESLProTour and World Ranking invites are locked in with #IEM Cologne just 6 weeks away!

Check out how stacked both the play-in and group stage are looking 👇 pic.twitter.com/SVRHtMUaku

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) June 12, 2023

Header: ESL