IEM Cologne 2025: MOUZ finally take down Vitality

MOUZ have finally broken the curse. After seven consecutive losses to Team Vitality in 2025, the international Counter-Strike 2 lineup claimed a landmark 2-0 semifinal victory on Saturday to book their place in the IEM Cologne 2025 grand final. The win not only ended Vitality’s dominant 37-series LAN streak but also denied the French organization a shot at back-to-back titles in Cologne.

The first map, Mirage, saw Vitality strike first with Shahar “flameZ” Shushan and Robin “ropz” Kool starring in early-round defenses. However, despite Vitality’s early 8-4 advantage, MOUZ bounced back with a clinical second half. A standout 1v3 clutch from ropz won Vitality their only round as MOUZ surged to a 13-9 win. Star AWPer Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut endured his worst map since 2022, finishing with a shocking 8-19 scoreline and a 0.53 rating.

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  Fast Payouts

On Vitality’s map pick of Train, MOUZ proved their first win was no fluke. While early pistol-round exchanges from Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin and Lotan “Spinx” Giladi made the opening half competitive, ZywOo again struggled and flameZ slumped to a 0.27 rating. With Vitality collapsing on the counter-terrorist side, MOUZ closed the map 13-8 to seal their first series win over Vitality since IEM Rio 2024.

Meanwhile, Team Spirit secured the other grand final spot after edging out Natus Vincere 2-1 in their semifinal clash. Spirit took Mirage 13-10 off the back of a sensational performance by Danil “donk” Kryshkovets, before NaVi responded on Nuke with a strong 13-9 win led by Drin “makazze” Shaqiri’s sharp entries.

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  The bookies' bookie

But on Ancient, Spirit ran riot. A 10-0 start on the terrorist side left NaVi shell-shocked, and despite a late push sparked by Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy, the gap was too much to close.

For the first time, MOUZ and Spirit will battle in an IEM Cologne grand final, each chasing their maiden title at the Cathedral of Counter-Strike. With Vitality dethroned and both finalists riding hot form, Sunday’s best-of-five promises to be a classic.

IEM Cologne 2025 grand final

Below you will find the details for the IEM Cologne, with odds courtesy of the best esports betting sites.

• MOUZ (+100 at BetOnline) vs Team Spirit (-138.89 at SportsBetting) @ 5pm CEST