ESL announces Brazil, USA & China IEM CS2 events for 2026

ESL has confirmed the countries and dates of three IEM events that will be held worldwide in 2026. The three tournaments are set to take place in Brazil, the USA, and China, three countries that have become mainstays of the Counter-Strike calendar in recent years.

Various IEM CS2 tournament dates confirmed for 2026

With the ESL calendar halfway done for 2025, preparations are well underway for next year’s events. After the recent confirmation that IEM Katowice will become IEM Kraków from next year, the tournament organizer has also confirmed that IEM Brazil, USA, and China will be held in 2026. The relevant dates are as follows:

• IEM Brazil 2026: April 13th-19th
  • Invites will be sent out following the first available monthly VRS publication of January 2026.
• IEM USA 2026: May 11th-17th
  • Invites will be sent out following the first available monthly VRS publication of February 2026.
• IEM China 2026: November 2nd-8th
  • Invites will be sent out following the first available monthly VRS publication of August 2026.

All three events are set to host 16 teams, with total winnings of $1,000,000 available at each. The invite distribution for the event is as follows:

IEM heads to familiar territory, but is change on the horizon?

The Intel Extreme Masters circuit is no stranger to Brazil, the USA, and China. IEM Rio has been a mainstay for a few years now, 2025 being the exception rather than the rule. IEM Dallas is always one of the most exciting CS2 tournaments around, in front of a dedicated crowd. Meanwhile, IEM Chengdu has been great for building the reputation of Counter-Strike in Asia in recent years.

What is most interesting here is that ESL has only confirmed the countries, but not the cities. It did the exact same thing with Katowice before moving to Kraków, and it could be a sign that all three countries will see a new city take center stage instead. While it would be sad to lose three great cities that are proven to host epic CS events, there’s an equally exciting element to it. It remains to be seen, with more details to be announced in due course.