At IEM Cologne 2025 Stage 1, FURIA Esports confidently defeated Astralis in a two-map series, securing their place in the second stage of the tournament. Excellent play from molodoy and KSCERATO . Astralis , on the other hand, found themselves in the lower bracket, where they will have to fight for further advancement.

FURIA Esports easily defeated Astralis 2-0 in the upper bracket final of IEM Cologne 2025 Stage 1. The team won on Nuke (13-11) and Dust2 (13-9), confidently closing out the match. The first half of the second map was particularly dominant for FURIA Esports .

FURIA Esports 's best player was Kaike ‘ KSCERATO ’ Cerato, who finished the series with 45 kills and 28 deaths, adr 95. He played a fantastic game, almost single-handedly securing the victory on Nuke. 

MVP - Kaike ‘ KSCERATO ’ Cerato

Astralis has now dropped to the bottom of the standings and will play a survival match against the winner of the pain / BIG match on July 25 at 7:30 p.m. CET. FURIA Esports , on the other hand, has already secured a spot in the second stage of IEM Cologne 2025 and will play its next match on July 26 — the opponent and time will be announced later.

IEM Cologne 2025 takes place from July 23 to August 3 in Germany . The tournament's prize pool is $1,000,000.