Europe secures an additional slot for IEM Cologne Major

ESL announced more information about the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major 2026, including the regional slot distribution, which includes an additional slot for Europe.

The regional slot allocation for IEM Cologne Major 2026 is dictated by the results at the StarLadder Budapest Major. However, while the Hungarian event is still ongoing, the success of European Counter-Strike 2 teams have earned the region an additional slot for the first Major of the next season.

In total, Europe will have 17 slots, making it the most represented region in Cologne. The Americas is second with 10 slots, while Asian teams will have just five.

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  Fast Payouts

Compared to the StarLadder Budapest Major, the Americas will retain the same number of invites, while Europe gained one at the expense of Asian teams.

Scheduled to kick off on June 2, IEM Cologne will follow the same three-stage format, which feeds into eight-team single-elimination playoffs.

The event will begin with Stage 1, featuring 16 Counter-Strike 2 teams, including six from Europe and the Americas, and four from Asia.

The top eight teams will proceed to Stage 2, where the Americas will take one spot from Asian teams. This is due to the early exits of Rare Atom, The Huns Esports, and Lynn Vision Gaming from the Budapest Major.

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  The bookies' bookie

Because six European teams have advanced to the StarLadder Budapest Major playoffs, Europe will gain an additional direct invite to Stage 3 of IEM Cologne, while Americas and Asia will each receive only one.

This is due to the success of FURIA (Americas) and The MongolZ (Asia) in Budapest, as both outfits made the final eight.

IEM Cologne 2026 is the first Major of the 2026 season, succeeding CS Asia Championship. The event is scheduled to run from June 2 to 21, featuring 32 CS2 teams competing for the lion’s share of the US$1,250,000 prize pool.

IEM Cologne Major Slot Distribution

Stage 1
• Europe – 6 spots
• Americas – 6 spots
• Asia – 4 spots

Stage 2
• Europe – 5 spots
• America – 3 spots
• Asia – 0 spots

Stage 3
• Europe – 6 spots
• Americas – 1 spot
• Asia – 1 spot