IEM Cologne 2024 Picks, Predictions and Odds

The IEM Cologne starts on Wednesday and there's a mammoth $1 million in prize money up for grabs in the S-Tier event in Germany.

The winners of the tournament will take home $400,000 of that prize pool, while they will also punch their ticket to the BLAST Premier World Final at the end of the year and secure a spot at the IEM Katowice in 2025.

But winning the IEM Cologne in itself is a big achievement as it remains one of the major events on the Esports calendar and comes hot on the heels of the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, which concluded in Copenhagen earlier this month.

There are 16 teams set to compete in the initial play-in stage and only half will progress to the main event, in which they will be joined by big guns Team Spirit, FaZe Clan, MOUZ, G2 Esports, Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Astralis and Virtus.pro.

Team Spirit are one of the biggest teams in the world of CS2 at the moment, and with FaZe Clan and Team Vitality far from perfect this season, there could be the chance for outsiders to impress.

Here is a look at which teams could go the distance in Cologne this month.

IEM Cologne 2024 betting picks and predictions

G2 Esports to win IEM Cologne 2024 (+350)

There is not a lot between the top teams in the betting for the IEM Cologne 2024 and there are arguably six teams with a realistic shout of winning the event.

The obvious place to start is with +250 favorites Team Spirit, who won their group at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups this summer and were also crowned champions at the BLAST Premier Spring Finals in 2024.

They also captured the IEM Katowice title in February and are one of the biggest organisations in the Esport, although they lost in the semifinals in the IEM Dallas and they are worth swerving at a short price.

Natus Vincere will also attract attention at +300 after they won the CS2 event at the Esports World Cup event in July and are first in the HLTV world rankings.

But the best wager could instead be with G2 Esports at +350.

G2 Esports are defending champions at the IEM Cologne, so they know what it takes to win this event and they are in good shape at the moment.

They are fifth in the world rankings but that is not a fair reflection of their quality given they won their section at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, finished as runners-up at the Esports World Cup and won the IEM Dallas - all since the beginning of June.

Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski and Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa have been terrific additions to the G2 Esports roster and they are a great pick to go the distance in Cologne again.

MOUZ to win IEM Cologne 2024 (+600)

Those after an outside bet might want to consider picking MOUZ at +600.

In terms of other competitors, Team Vitality look short enough at +450 given they have gone trophyless in 2024, while +550 shots FaZe Clan are in dismal form.

They have dropped down to sixth in the HLTV world rankings, having not caused a stir since winning the IEM Chengdu back in April.

MOUZ could therefore provide the best outside challenge, having moved up to third spot in the world rankings after winning the Dacha Belgrade 2024 and season 19 of the ESL Pro League in May.

Following those title successes, they underperformed at the IEM Dallas but bounced back with a semifinal elimination in the CS2 event at the Esports World Cup in July earlier this season.

They have a young squad and should be buzzing when playing in their home country of Germany, so they could be dark horses to win the IEM Cologne.

IEM Cologne 2024 outright odds

Team Spirit	+250
Natus Vincere	+300
G2 Esports	+350
Team Vitality	+450
FaZe Clan	+550
MOUZ	+600
Astralis	+1200
Virtus.Pro	+1600
The MongolZ	+2500
Team Liquid	+2500

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.