Falcons sweep FURIA to win IEM Cologne Major

Falcons defeated FURIA 3-0 in the IEM Cologne 2026 grand final in Cologne on June 21. The best-of-five ended with Falcons winning Mirage, Anubis and Inferno. It is the organization’s first Major and the first Major victory for Nikola “NiKo” Kovač.

On Mirage, FURIA’s map pick, Team Falcons opened the match with an 8-0 run. During that stretch FURIA recorded one bomb plant. FURIA won the last four rounds of the first half, but Falcons controlled the second half to close out the map.

On Anubis, Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov won the pistol round with a Dualies 4K and helped start a 4-0 run. Falcons sustained pressure after the side switch, winning eight of nine rounds on the T side. Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin and m0NESY combined for 22 frags on Anubis.

Inferno finished the series. NiKo and kyousuke combined for 33 kills to secure the sweep and the title.

Individual numbers from the final: NiKo finished 52-32 K-D with an 85.5 ADR and a 1.43 rating. Kyousuke recorded 55 kills and a 1.34 rating. m0NESY posted a match rating of 1.31 and a 1.80 rating across Mirage and Anubis, with a +10.13% round swing on those two maps. FURIA’s top performer, Danil “molodoy” Golubenko, recorded a 1.26 rating; most other FURIA players finished below a 1.00 rating.

Falcons reached the final after playoff wins over Team Vitality and Spirit. The organization signed NiKo in January 2025 and later added Finn “karrigan” Andersen after he failed to qualify for Cologne with FaZe. The roster had earlier runner-up finishes at other events.

Post-match, NiKo addressed the crowd:

I don’t know what to say. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. There’s no better place to lift this trophy. I swear to God. It definitely was worth the wait. I think I’m the prime example; never give up. Never give up on your dreams, on your life. Keep believing. You’re going to achieve things. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be painful. But you will get it. You will fucking get it. I cannot explain how happy and relieved I am right now.

Karrigan reflected on the victory: “It’s a dream come true. The story for me this year has been so hard. Then I get a call: why not do it with NiKo, come here and help him win a trophy? I’m so proud of the boys. This is the hardest route I’ve had to winning a Major. I’m so proud of this team.”

FURIA reached the final after earlier wins in the tournament but did not take a map in the grand final. Falcons add their name to the list of Major winners. More post-match interviews and detailed coverage of the event are expected in the days following the final.