IEM Beijing 2026: Groups, Teams, Format and Prize Pool
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| Author ESTNN Esports News
IEM Beijing 2026 starts on November 2, two days after the PGL Masters Bucharest final, and 11 of its 16 teams are playing in Romania this week. The event runs until November 8 in Beijing with a $1.25 million total purse, split between player prize money and club share.
Contents
Groups and opening matches
HLTV has published two groups of eight. Final start times for the opening round were not confirmed on the event page when this was written.
| Group | Opening match |
|---|---|
| A | Legacy vs The MongolZ |
| A | HEROIC vs B8 |
| A | FURIA vs FaZe |
| A | NAVI vs Falcons |
| B | MOUZ vs TYLOO |
| B | 9z vs BetBoom |
| B | Aurora vs Liquid |
| B | PARIVISION vs G2 |
Format
Both groups are double-elimination brackets with Bo3 series. Each group winner goes straight to the playoff semifinals, while the second and third-placed teams enter the quarterfinals. The playoffs are single elimination in Bo3, with a Bo5 grand final.
How the 16 teams qualified
| Route | Teams |
|---|---|
| Global VRS invite | FURIA, MOUZ, Aurora, Falcons, Legacy, BetBoom, G2, NAVI, PARIVISION, FaZe |
| VRS South America | 9z |
| VRS Asia | The MongolZ |
| VRS North America | Liquid |
| Closed qualifier | B8, HEROIC |
| Asia closed qualifier | TYLOO |
Prize money
The winner takes $125,000 in player prize money and $235,000 in club share. The amounts shrink down the table to $4,000 in player money for the teams that finish 13th to 16th.
| Place | Player prize | Club share |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $125,000 | $235,000 |
| 2nd | $50,000 | $160,000 |
| 3rd | $30,000 | $130,000 |
| 4th | $20,000 | $100,000 |
| 5th-6th | $12,500 | $75,000 |
| 7th-8th | $7,000 | $47,500 |
| 9th-12th | $5,000 | $20,000 |
| 13th-16th | $4,000 | None listed |
The Bucharest hangover
The schedule is the real story. Spirit, Vitality, FUT, Nemiga and DENDELE are in Bucharest but not in Beijing, while Falcons, FaZe, PARIVISION, B8 and HEROIC arrive fresh. Any team that goes deep in Romania on October 31 then has to travel to China and play an opening Bo3 on November 2, which favors the rested sides in the first upper-bracket round. Follow the Bucharest side of that story on our PGL Masters Bucharest 2026 results tracker, and the rest of the season on our 2026 esports calendar.
Source: HLTV IEM Beijing 2026 event page. Image: IEM Katowice 2018 stage (archive photo). Photo: Portal PcModpl / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
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