The IEM Cologne Major 2026 has delivered exactly what Counter-Strike fans expect from a Major so far: unforgettable upsets, breakout performances, and shocking collapses. Across all three Swiss stages, several teams exceeded every expectation and forced the community to reevaluate their place in the world rankings. At the same time, a handful of established contenders failed to live up to the hype and left Cologne earlier than anyone anticipated.
With the playoffs now set, it’s a good moment to look back at the teams that surprised us the most, both positively and negatively.
The Cinderella Runs
BetBoom: Silencing the Doubters
BetBoom arrived in Cologne carrying plenty of question marks. Including the fact that they couldnt field a complete roster with s1ren due to VISA circumstances so they had very limited amount of practice with that particular roster featuring FL4MUS and d1Ledez.
The roster had shown flashes of brilliance throughout the season but struggled to convince fans that they could consistently perform on the biggest stage. Cologne changed that narrative completely.
read more
Their Stage 2 run included a crucial victory over Monte to secure qualification for Stage 3, and once they reached the Major’s final Swiss stage, they immediately announced themselves with two of the biggest upsets of the tournament by defeating The MongolZ and Falcons.
What stood out most was their composure. BetBoom looked far more disciplined than many expected, winning key rounds under pressure and displaying a level of tactical depth that had often been questioned in previous tournaments.
By the end of Stage 3, nobody was talking about BetBoom as a dark horse anymore. They had become a legitimate playoff threat and certainly deserved to make it to the playoffs after they completely dominated one of the fans favorites to make it to the playoffs and one of the most exciting teams to watch in 2026 so far on FUT.
9z: The Team Nobody Wanted to Face
No team had a more bizarre, yet impressive, Stage 3 run than 9z. After opening the stage with a win over PARIVISION, the South American side proceeded to shock the entire tournament by defeating world No. 1 Vitality and then pushing Spirit, arguably the most in-form team in Counter-Strike, to all three maps in a series that could have easily gone either way. Suddenly, 9z weren’t just a nice underdog story, they looked like genuine contenders capable of beating anyone in the server.
read more
That is why their next match against Aurora left everyone completely confused. After going toe-to-toe with two of the best teams in the world over consecutive days, 9z were comprehensively beaten 2-0 in a performance that looked completely unrecognizable compared to the team fans had been praising just 24 hours earlier. It felt as though all the momentum they had built had simply vanished overnight.
However, what made their run truly special was their response. Lesser teams might have mentally collapsed after such a crushing defeat. Instead, 9z showed incredible resilience, reset themselves, and delivered one of the most convincing performances of their tournament by dismantling The MongolZ in the deciding match to secure a historic playoff berth. The way they bounced back from disappointment and eliminated one of the most dangerous teams in the event perfectly encapsulated why 9z became one of the biggest stories of the IEM Cologne Major 2026.
FUT Esports: Better Than Expected
Many fans predicted FUT would struggle against the elite teams waiting in Stage 3. Instead, the squad proved they belonged.
Their most impressive moment came against tournament favorites Vitality, where they stunned everyone by taking the opening map and briefly putting the world’s number one team under serious pressure. Although Vitality eventually recovered to win the series, FUT earned widespread respect for their fearless approach.
read more
The roster consistently punched above expectations throughout the tournament and showed that they have the potential to become a permanent fixture in top-tier Counter-Strike (if they dont fall apart and lose all their talented pieces, laughs).
The Biggest Disasters
GamerLegion: From Contender to Collapse
Few teams experienced a bigger drop-off at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 than GamerLegion.
Coming into the Major, GamerLegion had built a reputation as one of the hottest teams outside the absolute elite. After a string of impressive tournament runs and deep playoff appearances in the months leading up to Cologne, many analysts viewed them as a legitimate candidate to reach Stage 3 and potentially challenge for a playoff spot. They also entered the event as a top-10 ranked team globally, further raising expectations.
Instead, the Major quickly turned into a nightmare. While GamerLegion narrowly survived Stage 1 and secured qualification for Stage 2, their level looked far below what fans had become accustomed to seeing. The warning signs became impossible to ignore once Stage 2 began, where they opened with a crushing 13-4 loss to Astralis.
Things only got worse from there. GamerLegion ultimately crashed out of Stage 2 in last place after being eliminated by B8, ending one of the most disappointing campaigns of the entire tournament.
Considering their form prior to Cologne, expectations were closer to a Stage 3 appearance, or even a playoff run. Instead, they became one of the first notable casualties of the Major, making them one of the tournament’s biggest disappointments.
paiN Gaming: A Tournament Defined by Chaos
Few teams left Cologne with more questions than paiN Gaming. On paper, this roster had enough talent to reach Stage 3, but throughout the Major they looked like a team without a clear identity. Their map pool remained painfully limited, making them predictable in vetoes and leaving little room for adaptation against stronger opposition. The inconsistency that had occasionally appeared before Cologne fully resurfaced on the biggest stage.
Individually, things were not much better. Vinicius “vsm” Moreira never managed to have the impact expected from a player of his caliber and seemed uncomfortable in some of the roles he was asked to play. João “snow” Vinicius delivered flashes of brilliance, most notably in the victory over Astralis, but one player’s heroics were never going to be enough to compensate for the team’s deeper structural problems.
Perhaps most concerning were the issues surrounding leadership and communication. Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt once again found himself trying to balance fragging, mid-round calling, and keeping the team mentally together. Interviews throughout the season and around the Major pointed toward communication issues within the roster, and at times paiN looked like five talented players pulling in different directions rather than one cohesive unit.
That is what makes their Cologne run so disappointing. The pieces were there for paiN to make a deep run, but poor communication, leadership struggles, an underdeveloped map pool, and underwhelming individual performances turned their campaign into complete chaos. For a team that entered the Major with legitimate Stage 3 ambitions, a Stage 2 exit felt like a massive failure and one of the tournament’s biggest disappointments.
PARIVISION: A Team That Lost Its Identity
PARIVISION entered Cologne carrying plenty of intrigue, but also plenty of baggage. In the weeks leading up to the Major, the team was surrounded by drama and uncomfortable interviews, creating the impression that all was not well internally. Unfortunately for them, those concerns seemed to spill directly onto the server.
Perhaps the biggest mystery was what happened to Daniil “zweih” Bogdanov. After joining the lineup, he looked like one of the most promising young riflers in the CIS region and immediately elevated the team’s ceiling. However, as the season progressed and particularly at Cologne, his level dropped significantly and he struggled to replicate the impact that had made him such an exciting addition in the first place.
read more
The same could be said for Aleksandr “BELCHONOKK” Komissarov. Known for his aggressive style and ability to take over games, he looked almost unrecognizable at times during the Major. Instead of being a playmaker who could create openings and put opponents under pressure, he often felt invisible, with his confidence seemingly disappearing alongside the team’s results.
More broadly, PARIVISION simply looked like a team that had lost belief in itself. Their map pool issues became impossible to ignore. Overpass looked nearly unplayable whenever it was left in the pool, forcing the team into uncomfortable vetoes and severely limiting their flexibility in series. In reality, Dust2 was the only map they appeared genuinely comfortable picking, making them increasingly predictable and easier to prepare for.
The result was a disappointing and frustrating campaign. A team that once looked like one of the most dangerous dark horses in the tournament instead arrived in Cologne lacking confidence, struggling individually, and with glaring strategic weaknesses that ultimately prevented them from becoming a serious playoff threat.
Final Thoughts
Every Major creates new heroes and new disappointments, and Cologne 2026 has been no different. BetBoom, 9z, and FUT emerged from the tournament with significantly stronger reputations than they had when the event began. These teams proved that preparation, confidence, and teamwork can overcome even the largest gaps in rankings and expectations.
read more
On the other side, Gamer Legion, paiN and PARIVISION leave Germany with difficult questions to answer. Whether due to inconsistency, missed opportunities, or simply failing to perform under pressure, they fell well short of what fans expected from them. And that’s exactly why Majors remain the pinnacle of Counter-Strike: rankings matter, predictions matter, but once the server goes live, anything can happen.
