Team Vitality win IEM Cologne 2024: Recap, schedule, teams & more

Declan Mclaughlin
IEM Cologne trophy from 2014

IEM Cologne 2024 is one of the last big Counter-Strike 2 tournaments before the Perfect World Shanghai Major, and Team Vitality have finally secured their first major trophy of 2024 at the event.

The $1 million prize pool event ran through August and was marketed as the “Cathedral of Counter-Strike” by ESL as the organizer promoted the decades-old tournament via iconic moments from past events.

That makes it all the more suiting that ZywOo took the MVP award at the event as Team Vitality brought home the IEM Cologne trophy.

Dexerto spoke with Zywoo, as well as Team Vitality’s founders, about their plans with ZywOo, and they expressed their desire to hold onto the player for the next decade. Considering his performance at IEM Cologne, that seems to be the right decision.

Here’s a full recap of the event’s schedule, standings, and how to catch up on prior matches.

How to watch

You can watch the action from the ESL Counter-Strike Twitch and YouTube channels to catch up on the VoDs. CS2 streamers like ohnePixel were also be co-streaming the event, and you can watch the VoDs through their channels as well.

Format & Bracket

IEM Cologne had a slightly different format than the tournaments before it. The event didn’t feature best-of-one matches, as even games in the Play-in stage were best-of-three series.

Stage 1 of the tournament, the Play-in stage, featured 16 teams in a double-elimination bracket vying for eight spots in Stage 2.

Stage 2 featured a double elimination group stage, with two groups of eight teams with invited squads taking on teams from Stage 1. The event culminated in a Playoff Stage where the top three teams from each group face off in a single elimination bracket to crown the champion.

IEM Cologne 2024 Match Schedule

You can find the full tournament schedule and results below.

Playoffs (August 16-17)

Day 8: August 16

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
QuarterfinalsMOUZ 2-0 G26:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
QuarterfinalsSAW 2-1 FaZe9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM

Day 9: August 17

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
SemifinalsNAVI 2-0 MOUZ6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
SemifinalsVitality 2-0 SAW9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM

Day 8: August 18

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
Grand FinalsNAVI 1-2 Vitality8:00 AM11:00 AM4:00 PM

Stage 1 (August 7-9)

Day 1: August 7

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
Upper Bracket R1FlyQuest 1-2 BIG1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM
Upper Bracket R1The MongolZ 1-2 SAW1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM
Upper Bracket R1HEROIC 1-2 MIBR4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Upper Bracket R13DMAX 0-2 9z4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Upper Bracket R1Eternal Fire 2-1 Falcons7:30 AM10:30 AM3:30 PM
Upper Bracket R1paiN 0-2 Liquid7:30 AM10:30 AM3:30 PM
Upper Bracket R1FURIA 2-1 Imperial10:30 AM1:30 PM6:30 PM
Upper Bracket R1Complexity 2-0 aTTaX10:30 AM1:30 PM6:30 PM

Day 2: August 8

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
Lower Bracket R2FlyQuest 0-2 MongolZ4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Upper Bracket R2BIG 1-2 SAW4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Lower Bracket R1HEROIC 2-1 3DMAX6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Upper Bracket R2FURIA 1-2 Team Liquid6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Lower Bracket R1aTTaX 0-2 Falcons9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM
Upper Bracket R2Complexity 2-0 Eternal Fire9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM

Day 3: August 9

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
Upper Bracket R2MIBR 0-2 9z4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Lower Bracket R1Imperial 1-2 paiN4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Lower Bracket R2BIG 1-2 Falcons6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Lower Bracket R2FURIA 2-1 Heroic6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Lower Bracket R2Eternal Fire 1-2 MongolZ9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM
Lower Bracket R2paiN 2-1 MIBR9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM

Stage 2 (August 10-13)

Day 4: August 10

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
Group B R1Virtus.pro 1-2 Complexity4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Group B R1FaZe 2-0 Team Liquid4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Group A R1NAVI 2-0 paiN6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Group A R1Astralis 2-0 9z6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Group A R1G2 0-2 SAW9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM
Group A R1Team Spirit 0-2 MongolZ9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM

Day 5: August 11

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
Group B R1MOUZ 2-1 Falcons4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Group B R1Vitality 2-0 FURIA4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Group A Upper R2SAW 2-1 MongolZ6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Group A Lower R1G2 2-0 Team Spirit6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Group A Upper R2Astralis 0-2 NAVI9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM
Group A Lower R19z 1-2 paiN9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM

Day 6: August 12

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
Group B Upper R2MOUZ 2-0 Complexity4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Group B Upper R2FaZe 1-2 Vitality4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Group B Lower R1Team Falcons 2-1 Virtus.pro6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Group B Lower R1Team Liquid 2-0 FURIA6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Group A Lower R2MongolZ 1-2 paiN9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM
Group A Lower R2Astralis 1-2 G29:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM

Day 7: August 13

STAGEMATCHPTETBST
Group B Lower R2FaZe 2-0 Falcons4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Group B Lower R2Team Liquid 2-0 Complexity4:30 AM7:30 AM12:30 PM
Group A Upper FinalNAVI 2-1 SAW6:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Group A Lower FinalpaiN 0-2 G26:45 AM9:45 AM2:45 PM
Group B Lower FinalFaZe 2-1 Liquid9:45 AM12:45 PM5:45 PM

IEM Cologne 2024 Teams and Players

The teams and players who qualified for Stage 2 of the tournament were invited thanks to winning previous IEM events from this season and placing high on the ESL World Rankings.

Teams in Stage 1 were invited based on their ESL World Ranking and regional ESL rankings. ALTERNATE aTTaX is the only team that qualified for the tournament through an open qualifier.

TEAMREGIONPLAYERS
Team SpiritEuropeChopper, magixx, zont1x, donk, sh1ro
FaZe ClanEuroperain, broky, karrigan, ropz, frozen
MOUZEuropetorzsi, xertioN, siuhy, Jimpphat, Brollan
G2 EsportsEuropehuNter-, NiKo, mONESY, malbsMd, Snax
Team VitalityEuropeapEX, ZywOo, Spinx, flameZ, mezii
NAVIEuropeb1t, Aleksib, jL, iM, w0nderful
AstralisEuropedev1ce, Staehr, stavn, jabbi, br0
Virtus.proEuropeJame, FL1T, fame, n0rb3r7, electroNic
HeriocEuropeTeSeS, sjuush, NertZ, kyxsan, degster
Eternal FireEuropeXANTARES, Calyx, MAJ3R, wicadia, woxic
Team FalconsEuropeSnappi, Magisk, made, SunPayus, dupreeh
ComplexityNorth AmericaJT, floppy, Grim, hallzerk, EliGE
9z TeamSouth Americadgt, max, buda, HUASOPEEK, Martinez
The MongolZAsiabLitz, Tenchno4K, 910, mzinho, Senzu
FlyQuestOceaniaINS, aliStair, Liazz, Vexite, dexter
Team LiquidNorth AmericaNAF, YEKINDAR, Twistzz, ultimate, jks
Imperial EsportsSouth AmericaVINI, felps, noway, decent, try
FURIA EsportsSouth Americayuurih, KSCERATO, FalleN, Chelo, skullz
BIGEuropetabseN, Krimbo, syrsoN, JDC, rigoN
BetBoom TeamEuropenafany, KaiR0N-, s1ren, zorte, Magnojez
paiN GamingSouth Americabiguzera, lux, kauez, nqz, snow
MIBRSouth Americaexit, brnz4n, insani, drop, saffee
SAWSouth AmericaMUTiRiS, rmn, ewjerkz, story, arrozdoce
ALTERNATE aTTaXEuropeawzek, FreeZe, PerX, ArroW, hyped