It’s a clash of two CS2 Major Champions! Both teams defeated mighty opponents on the way to this tournament stage, but only one can advance to the final battle.
We witnessed the semifinals on the second day of the playoffs at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2025 (IEM Cologne 2025). The match Team Spirit versus NAVI opens the competitive excitement.
This Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) tournament is traditionally unforgiving. One loss in the final brackets means elimination. The winners become one step closer to the ultimate trophy. Winning in the cathedral of Counter-Strike is a great esports honor!
All the details of the CS2 match between Team Spirit and NAVI at IEM Cologne 2025 are here.
How to watch the IEM Cologne 2025 semifinal Spirit vs NAVI: Stream
The official stream of the semifinal at IEM Cologne 2025 is embedded below. The ESL Counter-Strike YouTube channel broadcasts all the matches from this tournament.
NAVI versus Team Spirit: Match details and stats
Check out the score and a brief match recap in this section. NAVI and Spirit had a best-of-three (Bo3) series.
Spirit 2:1 NAVI — Spirit win the series and advance to the grand final of CS2 IEM Cologne 2025
Map | Score | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| 1, Mirage, NAVI pick | Spirit 13:11 NAVI | Spirit |
| 2, Nuke, Spirit pick | Spirit 9:13 NAVI | NAVI |
| 3, Ancient, decider | Spirit 13:6 NAVI | Spirit |
Map 1: Mirage
The start was pretty promising for NAVI. On the T side, they won the Pistols and a few rounds after that. Spirit had a chance to succeed even in round 2, where four of them were left alive.
donk woke up a bit late, but did so with a clutch and B retake in round 4. Soon after that, he became a great power! NAVI's six-round advantage evaporated quickly.
After the side swap, Spirit continued their great rounds, reached the match point, and eventually won the game.
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Map 2: Nuke
Once again, Spirit were late to wake up. NAVI finished the first half with 10 rounds in the bag.
As CTs, Spirit managed to force the game back on track. After recovering their economy, they achieved a six-round streak. Well, NAVI needed only one at that point.
Map 3: Ancient
The pace set by Spirit in the late part of the previous map turned out to be too much for NAVI to follow. They lost 10 rounds in a row — everything went Spirit’s way on Ancient.
When NAVI finally found their way back, it was too late for them. Winning six rounds feels like a decent achievement for them on this map.
At the end, Spirit stopped this comeback attempt with two defuses. Team Spirit won the semifinal, so they will battle for victory at CS2 IEM Cologne 2025.
Match preview: Fresh favorites
Neither NAVI nor Spirit is exactly an underdog. They won CS2 Majors in 2024, and even if the rosters have slightly changed since then, the teams remain mighty players on the top CS2 scene.
Still, the competitive landscape is different in 2025. Team Vitality has become an unbeatable leader. MOUZ and The MongolZ are among the real contenders for the throne.
NAVI players openly stated they are happy even with the top 6 placement. They defeated FaZe to reach the playoffs. In the quarterfinal of IEM Cologne 2025, NAVI won over The MongolZ. After these big wins, the team proves itself as the tournament favorites.
Team Spirit also faced one of the strongest CS2 esports teams to reach the IEM Cologne 2025 semifinals. Spirit qualified for the playoffs after two matches, and then, they defeated MOUZ in the upper final of Group B.
In the parallel brackets, Vitality played versus MOUZ. It’s one of the key matches of IEM Cologne 202. Could MOUZ stop Vitality’s streak?
For CS2 competitive coverage and news, stick around on esports.gg.
