At the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, United States, 16 of the best Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports teams competed for glory at IEM Atlanta 2026. Here's how things went down on the server, in case you couldn't watch the action unfold live.

NAVI wins IEM Atlanta 2026

Sparks flew right from the start of IEM Atlanta 2026, with the #1 squad in the world, Team Vitality, falling to the Lower Bracket in Group A after a shocking 1-2 defeat at the hands of BetBoom Team.

Team Vitality recovered in Group A, but after losing to BetBoom Team, they finished third in the group and thus found themselves in the Quarterfinals of IEM Atlanta 2026, instead of the Semifinals.

Continue reading to find out what happened, or watch the video below featuring highlights from the Grand Final...or both!

In Group B, it was another underdog story, with Legacy reigning supreme after taking care of NAVI in the final match to secure that Semifinals spot. The result also set up a NAVI vs. Team Vitality Quarterfinals matchup.

NAVI broke Team Vitality's streak of 21 consecutive top-four appearances, eliminating Dan "apEX" Madesclaire's men in the Quarterfinals of IEM Atlanta 2026 with a 2-1 reverse-sweep comeback.

With momentum and confidence on their side, NAVI then smashed BetBoom Team with a convincing 2-0 win to earn a spot in the Grand Final of IEM Atlanta 2026.

On the other side of the bracket, GamerLegion pulled off a 2-1 reverse-sweep comeback against paiN Gaming in the Quarterfinals, and defeated Legacy in a close 2-1 Semifinals for a spot in the Grand Final.

In the Grand Final of IEM Atlanta 2026, there was no stopping NAVI. They took care of business on Mirage with a dominating 13-3 win, and defeated GamerLegion 13-9 on Anubis for a 2-0 lead.

GamerLegion pushed NAVI to overtime on Nuke, but NAVI came out on top with a 16-13 win, thereby claiming the IEM Atlanta 2026 trophy with a 3-0 clean sweep in the Grand Final.

Congratulations go out to NAVI for besting everyone in their path, including Team Vitality. For his fantastic performance on the AWP, Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov earned his career-first MVP at a top-tier event.

Final IEM Atlanta 2026 standings

Check out the table below featuring the complete and final standings of IEM Atlanta 2026, including how much money each team won.

PlaceTeamPlayer ShareClub Share1stNatus Vincere$125,000$170,0002ndGamerLegion$50,000$120,0003rdLegacy$30,000$95,0004thBetBoom Team$20,000$75,0005th–6thTeam Vitality, paiN Gaming$12,500$55,0007th–8thAstralis, B8$7,000$35,0009th–12thFUT Esports, FaZe Clan, SINNERS Esports, Team Liquid$5,000$15,00013th–16thBC.Game Esports, M80, NRG Esports, Passion UA$4,000—

As always, stay tuned to Esports Central for lots of CS2 event coverage and more!

Header image via ESL.