IEM Krakow 2026: Tournament Format, Teams, and Prize Pool

In 2026, the Intel Extreme Masters tournament in Poland will change its location: instead of Katowice, the championship will be held in Krakow. IEM Krakow 2026 in Counter-Strike 2 will take place from January 28 to February 8. The event will feature 24 teams, with a total prize pool of $1.25 million - $1 million allocated to players and an additional $250,000 distributed among clubs.

The competition will begin with the Play-In stage, where 16 teams will compete in a double-elimination format. The top eight teams will advance to the main stage of the tournament.

Play-In Stage Participants:

Aurora, GamerLegion, Heroic, PARIVISION, Liquid, NiP, Passion UA, G2, Legacy, BCGame, FUT Esports, 3DMAX, Astralis, paiN, NRG, and B8.

In the next phase, these teams will be joined by eight invited squads selected based on the Valve ranking. They will be placed into two GSL-format groups.

Invited Teams for the Main Stage:

NAVI, Spirit, Vitality, FaZe, MOUZ, Falcons, FURIA, and The MongolZ.

The winners of each group will advance directly to the semifinals of the playoffs. Teams that finish second and third in their groups will start the knockout stage from the quarterfinals. A third-place match is also предусмотрен.

All matches from the Play-In stage onward will be played in a best-of-3 format. The grand final will be held as a best-of-5. The LAN stage of the tournament will take place at the ESL studio in Krakow.

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Prize Pool Distribution:

• 1st place — $400,000 + $60,000 to the club

• 2nd place — $180,000 + $36,000 to the club

• 3rd place — $100,000 + $31,000 to the club

• 4th place — $60,000 + $25,000 to the club

• 5th–6th places — $40,000 each + $21,000 to each club

• 7th–8th places — $24,000 each + $14,000 to each club

• 9th–12th places — $16,000 each + $7,000 to each club

• 13th–16th places — $10,000 each

• 17th–20th places — $4,500 each

• 21st–24th places — $2,500 each