NAVI's elimination nearly halved the Ukrainian viewership of the IEM Cologne Major 2026

IEM Cologne Major 2026 became one of the most successful esports tournaments for the Ukrainian-speaking audience, although a significant portion of viewers lost interest after the Ukrainian teams finished their runs.

According to Esports Charts, the championship ranked among the four most popular esports events in the history of Ukrainian-language broadcasts. The tournament's peak viewership exceeded 110,000 viewers, but the main interest was specifically tied to matches involving Natus Vincere.

IEM Cologne Major 2026 took place from June 2 to June 21 and featured 32 of the world's strongest teams. Ukraine was represented at the tournament by NAVI, B8 Esports, and Monte, while a total of ten Ukrainian players competed across various rosters.

Despite strong representation, no Ukrainian team managed to reach the playoffs. Natus Vincere achieved the best result, falling one step short of the final stage after losing 1:2 to G2 Esports in the decisive Stage 3 match.

NAVI's performances became the main driver of the tournament's popularity among Ukrainian fans. The match against Team Falcons became the most-watched game of IEM Cologne Major 2026 on Ukrainian-language broadcasts, reaching a peak audience of more than 110,000 viewers.

For comparison, during the early stages of the tournament, Ukrainian broadcasts attracted much smaller audiences—around 17,600 and 22,200 viewers respectively. After NAVI entered the stage, interest increased almost fivefold.

However, after the Ukrainian giant was eliminated, viewership declined significantly. The most popular playoff match without Ukrainian teams involved—the final between FURIA and Team Falcons—reached 56,900 peak viewers.

Maincast served as the tournament's official Ukrainian-language broadcaster. Its Twitch and YouTube channels accumulated more than 2 million hours watched during the championship.

Among the most notable broadcasters was also streamer Mykhailo Lebiga. His broadcast of the NAVI versus Team Falcons match attracted nearly 60,000 concurrent viewers, becoming one of the channel's strongest performances.

Team Falcons won IEM Cologne Major 2026. In the final, the team defeated FURIA 3:0, winning all three maps by the identical score of 13:8. The title was especially significant for Falcons, as the team finally ended a streak of eight defeats in major tournament finals.

Overall, IEM Cologne Major 2026 set historic numbers: the tournament attracted more than 2.75 million peak viewers and became one of the largest esports events in Counter-Strike history.

Despite Ukrainian teams not reaching the decisive stages, the figure of more than 110,000 viewers allowed IEM Cologne Major 2026 to rank fourth among the most popular esports events in the history of Ukrainian-language broadcasts.