NaVi win IEM Cologne 2021: final placements & recap

IEM Cologne 2021 detailsESL

The $1 million IEM Cologne 2021 championship is officially in the books. One of the staple CS:GO events on the calendar brought together some of the world’s best to fight it out, but it would be s1mple and NaVi who took home the $400,000 grand prize.


  • NaVi shut down G2 3-0 to win Cologne 2021 Grand Finals
  • s1mple and company return in full form for first LAN of 2021
  • Online juggernaut Gambit fall to FaZe Clan in quarterfinals

IEM Cologne is one of the most storied events on the CS:GO calendar. While no longer a major, history has been made many a time in Germany, with the Cathedral of Counter-Strike hosting some of the biggest matchups.

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The 2021 tournament was no different, with 24 teams from across the globe fighting for the prestigious title ⁠— but in the end it would be NaVi taking $400,000 for first place at the first in-person Counter-Strike event of 2021.

IEM Cologne 2021: final placements

Placement Team Prize Money (USD)
1 NaVi $400,000
2 G2 Esports $180,000
3-4 Astralis $80,000
FaZe Clan
5-6 Virtus.Pro $40,000
Gambit Esports
7-8 Heroic $24,000
BIG
9-12 Team Liquid $16,000
Ninjas in Pyjamas
FURIA
Team Vitality
13-16 mousesports $10,000
Complexity
Renegades
Team Spirit
17-20 Team LDLC $4,500
OG
Sprout
Evil Geniuses
21-24 Bad News Bears $2,500
MiBR
Team One
ViCi Gaming

IEM Cologne 2021: schedule & results

S1mple and the rest of NaVi regaining their winning ways wasn’t the only storyline to come out of Cologne though — Virtus.Pro proved they aren’t going anywhere, while FaZe shocked everyone by eliminating Gambit Esports (undoubtedly the best team during online play) in a quarterfinals win no one saw coming.

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You couldn’t ask for a better storyline than FaZe Clan, Astralis, and G2 all chomping at the bit to take the top spot from NaVi after Cologne, which might be just what we have with the return of live play.

The first LAN of 2021 certainly didn’t disappoint, and you can find a complete recap of all daily scores down below:

Play-In Stage

Day 1: July 6

Stage Match PT ET BST
Upper Bracket Round 1 NiP 16-6 LDLC 3AM 6AM 11AM
Upper Bracket Round 1 Bad News Bears 7-16 mousesports 3AM 6AM 11AM
Upper Bracket Round 1 Spirit 22-18 MIBR 3AM 6AM 11AM
Upper Bracket Round 1 Renegades 6-16 Vitality 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Upper Bracket Round 1 OG 16-6 Team One 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Upper Bracket Round 1 Sprout 8-16 BIG 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Upper Bracket Round 1 Evil Geniuses 12-16 FaZe Clan 6AM 9AM 2PM
Upper Bracket Round 1 Complexity 16-10 ViCi Gaming 6AM 9AM 2PM
Upper Bracket Round 2 NiP 2-0 mousesports 7:30AM 10:30AM 3:30PM
Upper Bracket Round 2 Spirit 1-2 Vitality 8AM 11AM 4PM
Lower Bracket Round 1 LDLC 2-0 Bad News Bears 8AM 11AM 4PM
Lower Bracket Round 1 MIBR 0-2 Renegades 10:30AM 1:30PM 6:30PM
Upper Bracket Round 2 BIG 2-0 OG 11:30AM 2:30PM 7:30PM
Upper Bracket Round 2 FaZe Clan 2-0 Complexity 11:30AM 2:30PM 7:30PM

Day 2: July 7

Stage Match PT ET BST
Lower Bracket Round 1 Team One 1-2 Sprout 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Lower Bracket Round 1 Evil Geniuses 2-0 ViCi Gaming 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Lower Bracket Round 2 Complexity 2-0 LDLC 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Lower Bracket Round 2 OG 0-2 Renegades 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Lower Bracket Round 2 Team Spirit 2-1 Sprout 11AM 2PM 7PM
Lower Bracket Round 2 mousesports 2-0 Evil Geniuses 11AM 2PM 7PM

Group Stage

Day 1: July 8

Stage Match PT ET BST
Group A Upper Bracket Round 1 Gambit 2-1 mousesports 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Group A Upper Bracket Round 1 NiP 1-2 Liquid 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Group A Upper Bracket Round 1 Virtus.pro 0-2 BIG 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Group A Upper Bracket Round 1 Complexity 0-2 G2 Esports 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Group B Upper Bracket Round 1 NAVI 2-1 Renegades 11AM 2PM 7PM
Group B Upper Bracket Round 1 Vitality 2-0 FURIA 11AM 2PM 7PM

Day 2: July 9

Stage Match PT ET BST
Group B Upper Bracket Round 1 Astralis 2-0 FaZe Clan 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Group B Upper Bracket Round 1 Heroic 2-1 Spirit 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Group A Lower Bracket Round 1 mousesports 1-2 Liquid 8:55AM 11:55AM 3:45PM
Group A Upper Bracket Round 2 Gambit 2-1 NiP 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Group A Lower Bracket Round 1 Virtus.pro 2-1 Complexity 3:40PM 6:40PM 11:40PM
Group A Upper Bracket Round 2 BIG 1-2 G2 Esports 10:40AM 2:40PM 7:40PM

Day 3: July 10

Stage Match PT ET BST
Group B Lower Bracket Round 1 Renegades 0-2 FURIA 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Group B Lower Bracket Round 1 FaZe Clan 2-1 Team Spirit 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Group A Lower Bracket Round 2 BIG 2-0 Team Liquid 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Group B Upper Bracket Round 2 Team Vitality 1-2 NAVI 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Group A Lower Bracket Round 2 NiP 0-2 Virtus.pro 11AM 3PM 10PM
Group B Upper Bracket Round 2 Astralis 2-0 Heroic 11AM 3PM 10PM

Day 4: July 11

Stage Match PT ET BST
Group B Lower Bracket Round 2 Heroic 2-0 FURIA 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Group B Lower Bracket Round 2 Vitality 0-2 FaZe Clan 4:30AM 7:30AM 12:30PM
Group A Lower Bracket Final Virtus.pro 2-0 BIG 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Group A Upper Bracket Final Gambit 1-2 G2 Esports 7:45AM 10:45AM 3:45PM
Group B Lower Bracket Final FaZe Clan 2-1 Heroic 11AM 2PM 7PM
Group B Upper Bracket Final NAVI 2-1 Astralis 11AM 2PM 7PM

Playoffs

Day 1: July 16

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Stage Match PT ET BST
Quarterfinals Astralis 2-1 Virtus.pro 7AM 10AM 3PM
Quarterfinals Gambit 1-2 FaZe Clan 10:15AM 1:15PM 6:15PM

Day 2: July 17

Stage Match PT ET BST
Semifinals G2 Esports 2-1 Astralis 7AM 10AM 3PM
Semifinals NAVI 2-0 FaZe Clan 10:15AM 1:15PM 6:15PM

Day 3: July 18

Stage Match PT ET BST
Grand Final (BO5) G2 Esports 0-3 NAVI 7AM 10AM 3PM

IEM Cologne 2021: teams

24 teams across the globe were invited to IEM Cologne based on their domestic results on the “Road to Cologne”. The eight top teams ⁠— six from Europe and two from NA ⁠— were seeded directly into the main event.

The other 16, including teams from South America, Oceania, and Brazil had to fight through the Play-In stage for one of eight spots in the Top 16.

You can find the full rosters of each team attending below.

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Team Players
Gambit Esports nafany, sh1ro, interz, Ax1Le, Hobbit
Natus Vincere s1mple, electronic, Boombl4, Perfecto, B1T
Heroic stavn, cadiaN, TeSeS, refrezh, sjuush
Virtus.pro buster, qikert, Jame, SANJI, YEKINDAR
Astralis dupreeh, Xyp9x, gla1ve, Magisk, Bubzkji
G2 Esports JaCkz, AmaNEk, nexa, huNter-, NiKo
FURIA Esports yuurih, arT, VINI, KSCERATO, honda
Team Liquid EliGE, NAF, Stewie2K, Grim, FalleN
Team Spirit somedieyoung, chopper, mir, magixx, degster
Complexity Gaming blameF, RUSH, k0nfig, poizon, jks
Ninjas in Pyjamas REZ, Plopski, hampus, dev1ce, LNZ
Evil Geniuses Brehze, CeRq, stanislaw, oBo, MICHU
Team One Maluk3, prt, pesadelo, malbsMd, xns
MIBR chelo, yel, shz, boltz, exit
Renegades malta, Sico, INS, Hatz, aliStair
ViCi Gaming zhokiNg, aumaN, advent, kaze, JamYoung
BIG tabseN, tiziaN, XANTARES, syrsoN, k1to
mousesports ropz, frozen, Bymas, acoR, dexter
Team Vitality apEX, ZywOo, shox, misutaaa, Kyojin
FaZe Clan rain, olofmeister, broky, Twistzz, karrigan
Bad News Bears ptr, Jonji, Swisher, Spongey, Shakezullah
OG Aleksib, valde, mantuu, niko, flameZ
Team LDLC SIXER, hAdji, Lambert, Maka, Keoz
Sprout Spiidi, faveN, denis, kreesy, slaxz-