BetBoom, 9z, G2 move on to Stage 3 at IEM Cologne

BetBoom Team, 9z Team and G2 Esports won their Round 4 high matches in Stage 2 on Monday to move onto Stage 3 at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major in Germany.

They will await three more teams to join them in Stage 3, as the Swiss System format concludes Tuesday to determine the last of the 16 participants in Stage 3.

Eight teams were seeded directly into Stage 3: Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons, The MongolZ, PARIVISION, Aurora Gaming, FURIA and MOUZ. FUT Esports and Team Spirit joined them by going 3-0 in Stage 2.

Teams are competing for their share of the Counter-Strike 2 tournament's $1.25 million prize pool with the grand final scheduled for June 21. The champion receives $500,000.

Advancement and elimination matches in Stage 2 are best-of-three. All other Stage 2 matches were a single map.

In the first Monday high match (between teams with 2-1 records), BetBoom opened with a 13-7 win over Monte on Nuke. Monte followed with a 13-6 victory on Mirage before BetBoom registered a 13-8 triumph on Dust II. Kirill "Magnojez" Rodnov paced all-Russian BetBoom with 58 kills and a plus-26 kills-deaths differential. Bulgaria's Aleks "Rainwaker" Petrov led Monte with 47 kills and a plus-5 K-D differential.

In the second high match, 9z made quick work of TYLOO, posting a sweep with wins on Overpass (13-10) and Inferno (13-6). Franco "dgt" Garcia of Uruguay led the way for 9z, posting 40 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential. Qianhao "Moseyuh" Chen of all-Chinese TYLOO notched a team-high 29 kills and an even K-D differential.

In the third high match, G2 also picked up a sweep, taking out BIG on Inferno (13-3) and Mirage (13-8). For G2, Guy "NertZ" Iluz of Israel delivered 39 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential. Gleb "gr1ks" Gazin of Belarus led BIG with 23 kills and a minus-2 K-D differential.

In the first of three elimination matches, B8 recovered from a 13-7 loss on Mirage against MIBR, posting back-to-back wins on Nuke (13-10) and Ancient (13-8). Legacy swept M80 with wins on Dust II (13-8) and Inferno (16-13 in overtime). paiN Gaming topped Astralis 2-0, prevailing 13-11 on Nuke and a 13-4 on Overpass.

Stage 3 finishes Tuesday with three matches featuring teams with 2-2 records:

--Monte vs. paiN Gaming

--TYLOO vs. Legacy

--BIG vs. B8

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $170,000

3-4. $80,000

5-8. $45,000

9-11. $15,000

12-14. $15,000

15-16. $15,000

17-19. $10,000

20-22. $10,000 -- MIBR, M80, Astralis

23-24. $10,000 -- GamerLegion, FlyQuest

25-27. $5,000 -- Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid

28-30. $5,000 -- THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC

31-32. $5,000 -- Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports

--Field Level Media

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 1:21 AM.