The Semi-Finals of the IEM Cologne 2026 Major have been set after a historic Friday, which saw a dramatic day of quarter-finals in the Lanxess.
The first quarter-final of the day saw Spirit take down G2 in a series that brought about five overtimes, four of which were on Map 3 of Mirage. Despite the high bar, the second series of the day between Vitality and Falcons did not disappoint.
Falcons defeated Vitality over three maps, all of which went the full 24 rounds, denying Vitality the ability to win their third Counter-Strike Major in a row.
The IEM Cologne 2026 Major Semi-Finals are:
- Furia vs Aurora – 15:45 CEST/13:45 UTC/9:45 EDT
- Spirit vs Falcons – 19:00 CEST/17:00 UTC/13:00 EDT
The draw follows a dramatic 2-1 victory for Falcons over Vitality in the second quarter-final of Friday at the IEM Cologne 2026 Major.
The series instantly surprised, with Falcons making the bold decision to opt for Anubis as their map pick, a choice that was soon rewarded as their dynamic CT-side gave them a good platform for success.
The Vitality CT-side proved to also be tough to dislodge for the T-sided map, but impact from Maksim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin saw Falcons get over the line 13-11.
Vitality hit back on Inferno, wrestling control of an extremely tight contest at the death. The match was an extremely streaky affair, with the teams trading groups of three or four rounds back and forth.
However, it was Vitality that finally managed to shut Falcons down once and for all, returning the Anubis favor for a 13-11 scoreline.
The series concluded on Dust 2. Once the home map of Vitality, the back-to-back Major champions had dropped the map multiple times in the lead up to this contest.
After an excellent T-side from Falcons, it seemed inevitable they would do so again with Falcons delivering an 8-4 half, with kyousuke starring alongside Ilya ‘m0nesy’ Osipov.
After losing the pistol and conversion, Falcons moved to within touching distance of victory after three rounds in a row to bring it to 11-6.
Vitality began to ramp up finally, winning key fights to bring the series to 11-12, only one round away from completing what seemed to be an inevitable comeback before an audacious smoke push from Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen guaranteed match point.
At 12-11, with everything on the line, Falcons gave Vitality a taste of their own medicine in the final round of the series, blowing Vitality’s faltering A hit away with inferior weapons to make the semi-final of Cologne and end Vitality’s streak.
Who do you think will win? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Additionally, check out our Esports World Cup 2026 schedule, which has a full breakdown of all seven weeks.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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