IEM Beijing 2026: NAVI sweep Falcons, PARIVISION beat Liquid to book first playoff spot
NAVI beat Falcons 2-0 on IEM Beijing's opening day, and PARIVISION followed two wins with a playoff place. TYLOO and The MongolZ had mixed starts.
IEM Beijing 2026 started on Monday, 2 November, with Natus Vincere (NAVI) sweeping Falcons 2-0 and FURIA coming back to beat FaZe. On Tuesday PARIVISION became the first team to secure a playoff place. The $1.25 million Counter-Strike 2 event runs in Beijing, which shares UTC+8 with Malaysia, so Malaysian fans can watch it at local time with no conversion. Group-stage play continued through Tuesday.
Day 1: NAVI and FURIA set up a Group A clash
NAVI beat Falcons 13-5 on Ancient and 13-11 on Mirage. Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov posted a 2.24 HLTV rating on Ancient, his best this year on that map, and finished the series 38-19 with a 1.75 rating.
FURIA beat FaZe in a tighter series. FaZe took their own pick, Ancient, 13-11, even though FURIA had led 10-2 at half-time. FURIA then won Dust2 13-5 and Cache 13-4. In the rest of Group A, HEROIC swept B8 and Asia's The MongolZ beat Legacy 2-1.
In Group B, MOUZ beat home side TYLOO 13-6 on Inferno and 13-7 on Nuke. Lotan "Spinx" Giladi led the server with 43 kills, 21 deaths and a 1.94 rating. Su "Zero" Jingshen was TYLOO's best player with a 1.11 rating, and the loss sent the Chinese team to the lower bracket. Liquid swept Aurora, BetBoom came from a map down to beat 9z 2-1, and PARIVISION beat G2 2-1.
PARIVISION first into the playoffs
On Tuesday PARIVISION beat Liquid 2-0, winning 13-7 on Ancient and 13-9 on Inferno. Evgenii "FL1T" Lebedev went 36-22 with a 1.48 rating. Dzhami "Jame" Ali, who had 63 kills against G2, added a 28-14 performance.
With two wins in the upper bracket, PARIVISION are into the playoffs. They now play the winner of MOUZ vs BetBoom in the Group B upper final, where a win sends them straight to the semi-finals. Liquid drop to the lower bracket and need two straight wins to stay alive.
Asian teams and what is still to play
Two Asian teams are in the field. The MongolZ won their opener and played HEROIC in the Group A upper bracket on Tuesday. TYLOO, the only Chinese team, faced 9z in the lower bracket, where a second defeat would knock them out. Falcons and FaZe also met in Group A's lower bracket. FURIA vs NAVI was set for 11:30 CET, which is 6.30pm MYT on Tuesday.
At the time of writing, Tuesday's remaining results had not been confirmed. Group play runs until Wednesday, 4 November.
Format and prize money
The 16 teams are split into two double-elimination groups of eight, and every group match is best-of-three. Each group winner goes straight to the playoff semi-finals. Runners-up and third-placed teams play in the quarter-finals. The single-elimination playoffs start on Friday, 6 November, and end with a best-of-five grand final on Sunday, 8 November.
The winners receive $360,000 of the $1.25 million prize pool, and the runners-up get $210,000. The event also carries ESL Pro Tour points.
Key takeaways
- NAVI beat Falcons 2-0, and w0nderful had a 2.24 rating on Ancient.
- PARIVISION beat G2 and Liquid to become the first team into the IEM Beijing playoffs.
- TYLOO lost 2-0 to MOUZ and dropped to the lower bracket. The MongolZ beat Legacy 2-1.
- The groups end on Wednesday. Playoffs run from Friday to Sunday, 6–8 November, at Malaysia-friendly UTC+8 hours.
FAQ
When is the IEM Beijing 2026 grand final? The best-of-five grand final is on Sunday, 8 November. The single-elimination playoffs start on Friday, 6 November.
How do teams qualify for the IEM Beijing playoffs? Each group's winner goes straight to the semi-finals. The second- and third-placed teams in each group play in the quarter-finals.
How much does the IEM Beijing winner earn? The champions take $360,000 of the $1.25 million prize pool.
Sources: HLTV, Field Level Media, Dust2.in, RG.org, Natus Vincere, esports.gg