The organizers of IEM Beijing 2026 have formed two groups and determined the opening matchups for the upcoming tournament. Several of the world’s top teams will gather in Beijing, meaning the battle for playoff spots will begin from the very first round.
Group A
Group A will feature Legacy, The MongolZ, HEROIC, B8, FURIA, FaZe, NAVI, and Falcons. The opening round will feature
- Legacy vs The MongolZ,
- HEROIC vs B8,
- FURIA vs FaZe,
- NAVI vs Falcons.
The last two matches attract the most attention. FURIA and FaZe face a difficult opening matchup, while NAVI will immediately take on Falcons. With this draw, one of the strongest teams is guaranteed to drop into the lower bracket after the very first round.
Group B
The second group consists of MOUZ, TYLOO, 9z, BetBoom, Aurora, Liquid, PARIVISION, and G2. In the opening matches,
- MOUZ will face TYLOO,
- 9z will take on BetBoom,
- Aurora will play Liquid,
- PARIVISION will meet G2.
On paper, Group B looks slightly more balanced, but there are plenty of dangerous matchups here as well. MOUZ will face the home team TYLOO, while Aurora, Liquid, PARIVISION, and G2 effectively form a separate half of the bracket, where every match could significantly change a team’s path to the playoffs.
How the group stage will work
The group stage will follow a double elimination format, with all series played as Bo3. The group winners will advance directly to the playoff semi-finals, while the teams finishing second and third in their groups will start from the quarter-finals.
This makes the upper bracket particularly important: winning a group allows a team to skip one playoff round and move closer to the final. An early defeat, however, will not mean immediate elimination, but it will significantly reduce the margin for error.
Main contenders
FURIA, MOUZ, Aurora, and Falcons enter IEM Beijing as some of the most prominent participants, but the tournament lineup leaves them with no easy path. Legacy, G2, BetBoom, NAVI, PARIVISION, and FaZe are also capable of making deep runs.
Group A looks particularly interesting, with NAVI and Falcons facing each other right from the start, while FURIA and FaZe are also in the same group. This means several potential contenders for the later stages of the tournament will begin competing against one another before the playoff bracket is even formed.
IEM Beijing starts on November 2
IEM Beijing 2026 will take place from November 2 to 8 in Beijing. A total of 16 teams will compete for a $1.25 million prize pool, and the six best rosters will advance to the playoffs after the group stage.
The decisive stage of the tournament will follow a single elimination format: the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played as Bo3, while the champion will be determined in a Bo5 Grand Final. A separate third-place match will also be held.
