IEM Kraków 2026 preview

The IEM Kraków 2026 is one of the first tournaments of the Counter-Strike 2 esports calendar, and a Tier-1 event promising big money and an even bigger spectacle. The best esports players around the world will be coming to Poland to compete, including, of course, many familiar names.

Kraków will play host to the first Intel Extreme Masters event of 2026, and the second Tier-1 event after the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026. It is one of five confirmed IEM events of the year, with the largest of the bunch being the Cologne Major.

With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about the Intel Extreme Masters Kraków 2026, including its schedule, participating teams, structure, prize pool, and how to watch the event.

The CS2 IEM Kraków 2026 takes place from January 28 to February 6. The play-offs will begin on February 6, taking place over three days, with the TAURON Arena Kraków as the hosting venue. 

If you’re looking to go in person, the first two waves of tickets have already sold out, with tickets from the third wave purchasable on the Intel Extreme Masters website.

As one of the bigger Tier-1 events, the IEM Kraków 2026 will host 24 of the world’s best teams. Eight teams qualify directly for the second stage, while the remaining 16 start in the initial play-in stage.

All teams are invited and seeded in certain stages based on their VRS (Valve Regional Standing) as of January 5, 2026. Here are all the teams and what stage they start at the Intel Extreme Masters Kraków 2026.

The CS2 IEM Kraków 2026 is split into three stages. The top eight teams go straight to the second stage, with the remaining 16 starting in Stage 1, the play-ins. These 16 teams play Bo3 matches in a double-elimination bracket, with the top eight moving on to the next stage.

In Stage 2, after the bottom eight teams have been eliminated, the top 16 are split into two eight-team groups, with all matches still being Bo3. The top three in each group go to the play-offs, meaning that at least six teams make it to the quarter-finals. 

Those teams at the top of each group go straight to each side of the semi-finals. The teams that finish second in each group take the high seeds for each quarter-final, while those that finish third take the low seeds. The tournament then continues in this single-elimination bracket format with Bo3 matches, which includes a third-place decider.

The Intel Extreme Masters Kraków 2026 then culminates in the Grand Finals, the only Bo5 match of the tournament.

If you can’t go to Kraków to watch the event in person, don’t fear. Valve hosts official broadcasts on streaming platforms, with the CS2 IEM Kraków 2026 viewable at the following sites:

The Intel Extreme Masters Kraków 2026 has an impressive collective prize pool of $1.25 million, with $1 million going to the teams and $250,000 acting as a club reward. Here is how the prize pool is split across the competing teams:

As the first $1 million-plus tournament of the CS2 esports calendar, IEM Kraków promises to be a must-watch event for Counter-Strike fans across the world. With 24 teams coming to Poland, a country that has long since played host to many grand CS2 events, there’s no reason to believe that this IEM tournament won’t be another spectacle.

With the 2026 Counter-Strike esports season just getting started, the calendar year has a lot to live up to, given the successes of 2025. A first visit to Kraków could prove to be a perfect way to start the year with a bang.