Spirit, Falcons book semi-finals berth after historic day at Cologne Major
Falcons saw off the reigning Major champions Vitality in the final quarter-final game of the IEM Cologne Major 2026 which confirmed the semi-final lineup and also rounded off an incredible day of Counter-Strike.
Before the semi-final action gets going later on today, take a quick look at the results from the final two quarter-finals.
magixx 1v4 highlights a marathon classic in the LANXESS
G2 faced donk and co. in the third quarter-final with the HeavyGod and huNter- show seeing G2 start the series with a 13-9 win on their pick of Overpass. Late activation from donk meant that Spirit tied up the series on their map pick of Dust2 as a 25-kill show from donk saw Spirit answer with a 16-14 win.
On the decider on Mirage, it was Spirit fighting back from a 4-8 deficit and a back and forth end to the decider saw magixx's incredible 1v4 power Spirit to a 25-22 win to bring an end to a record-breaking marathon classic in the LANXESS. The match also ended up breaking CS2 viewership records.
G2Spirit| G2 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Matúš 'MATYS' Šimko |
71 - 68 | +3 | 72.9 | 77.8% | 1.19 |
 Nikita 'HeavyGod' Martynenko |
60 - 66 | -6 | 76.6 | 65.7% | 1.08 |
 Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač |
68 - 62 | +6 | 68.2 | 76.8% | 1.06 |
 Álvaro 'SunPayus' García |
64 - 56 | +8 | 67.0 | 74.7% | 1.01 |
| Guy 'NertZ' Iluz |
53 - 71 | -18 | 68.7 | 69.7% | 0.84 |
| Spirit |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets |
81 - 73 | +8 | 87.9 | 72.7% | 1.32 |
 Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia |
61 - 64 | -3 | 69.0 | 76.8% | 1.05 |
| Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov |
75 - 56 | +19 | 74.4 | 70.7% | 1.04 |
| Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev |
55 - 57 | -2 | 66.5 | 74.7% | 0.94 |
 Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich |
48 - 68 | -20 | 62.3 | 74.7% | 0.90 |
kyousuke steps up on the big stage to break Vitality's hearts
The fourth and final quarter-final saw the back-to-back Major champions Vitality take on Falcons in an attempt to pick up their third successive Major title and tie themselves with Astralis' record. The quarter-final kicked off on Falcons' pick of Anubis as the young kyousuke showed his impact instantly which saw Falcons start with a 13-11 win. Moving to Vitality's pick of Inferno, it was none other than Vitality's talisman, ZywOo, making sure they stayed alive in the series as the French star's 1.67 rating performance saw Vitality edge out a 13-11 win.
The decider on Dust2, saw Falcons start with a four round lead on their T side before a late comeback attempt from Vitality threatened overtime. Falcons managed to hold on for a 13-11 win to secure the series 2-1 and end Vitality's Major hopes.
SEMI-FINAL LINEUP
The semi-final lineup is confirmed with Aurora to take on FURIA in the first semi-final before the blockbuster clash between Spirit and Falcons round out the day for the final spot in the Grand Final.
The semi-finals have plenty of storylines in play as Aurora have made their deepest run at a Counter-Strike Major and its the furthest a Turkish squad has reached. FURIA meanwhile sees their captain, FalleN looking for another Cologne title, where he has lifted the Cologne Major title before and it is also FalleN's final Cologne which makes it more special, with the veteran Brazilian having stated that he will retire at the end of the year.
On the other side, Spirit with donk are looking for their second Major and it would be more special given that they have played the entire Major without their coach. For Falcons, who have been wanting success at the top level for a while, it is a golden chance for the Saudi Arabian organisation and with their new in-game leader, Karrigan at the helm along with NiKo, who is still looking for his first Major title, it would be the perfect end to a classic Major campaign.
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