How to watch IEM Cologne 2025: Schedule, teams, broadcasts & more
The IEM Cologne 2025 kicks off on July 23 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, bringing fans closer to one of the hallmark events of the annual Counter-Strike calendar. It will see 24 top teams from across the world battle it out as we begin the second half of the game’s competitive season in 2025.
As we prepare for the second ESL Pro Tour championship of the year, here’s a primer for readers and fans about what to expect in Germany. Details about livestreams, teams, format, schedule, and more can be found, with ticket links for those interested in attending the competition live also added.
IEM Cologne 2025 schedule & format
This Tier 1 Counter-Strike competition, belovedly labeled the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, will run until August 3. It will have three rounds, and here’s how each one works:
Play-In (July 23-25): 16 sides will kick off this stage, battling in a double-elimination bracket until the top eight advance to the Group Stage. All matches will be best-of-three affairs, with the likes of FaZe, Astralis, Virtus.pro, and FURIA Esports set to be seen in action.
Group Stage (July 26-29): The eight qualified sides from the Play-In phase will join the eight directly invited teams in this stage. These rosters will be split into two double-elimination format (GSL) groups, with all matches being Bo3. The top three teams from each group advance to the Playoffs, with the group stage winners advancing to the Semifinals, runners-up making it to the Quarterfinals as the High Seeds, and the third-place sides progressing to the Quarterfinals as the Low Seeds.
Playoffs (August 1-3): This knockout phase will see a single-elimination bracket where the Quarterfinals & Semifinals are Bo3 and the Grand Final is Bo5.
Anyone looking for tickets for this upcoming tournament can head here for more details.
IEM Cologne 2025 livestreams
The IEM Cologne 2025 will be broadcast in multiple languages and available on several platforms:
- Primary English broadcasts by ESL (Twitch, YouTube)
- Secondary English broadcasts by ESL (Twitch, YouTube)
- Russian broadcasts (Twitch, YouTube)
- German broadcast (Twitch)
- Kazakh broadcast (Twitch, YouTube)
- FACEIT broadcast here
Of course, official broadcasts in other prominent languages like Spanish and Portuguese will also be available once the latest event in the IEM Cologne series starts. Fans can also watch the IEM Cologne 2025 matches on the channels of their favorite community casters like Alexandre ‘’Gaules’’ Borba, Piotr ‘’izakooo’’ Skowyrski, and Mark ‘’ohnepixel’’ Zimmermann.
IEM Cologne 2025 teams
IEM Cologne 2025 changes
There is an interesting tweak to the map pool for this renowned CS tournament, with ESL announcing that it would incorporate Valve’s game-wide map change that would see Overpass replace Anubis. This tweak will be incorporated within the ESL Pro Tour “with immediate effect,” which follows a similar update from BLAST, who confirmed Overpass's inclusion in its map pool starting August 1.
It’s going to be an intense ten days of action as the world’s best sides battle it out for a $1.25 million prize pool and bragging rights as winners of one of the premier annual CS competitions. With subplots like Team Vitality’s amazing winning run this year and Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev’s unclear status, it should make for some great games and moments for fans and pundits.
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