IEM Krakow 2026 Grand Final Preview: Can FURIA repeat Chengdu heroics against Vitality?

The stage is set for FURIA and Vitality at IEM Krakow 2026. Two lineups expected to contend for all the big prizes this year, both of whom disappointed at BLAST Bounty. Now, both are back in the Grand Finals in Poland.

It’s time to take a look at both teams’ chances of glory in the IEM Krakow 2026 Grand Final. With both in excellent form, we’re sure to be in for a banger series.

FURIA have the map pool to get the job done

There can be no doubt about it: in any best-of-five Final between FURIA and Vitality, the latter are considered the favorites. The BO5 format rewards serious map pool depth, and you can’t really point to a weakness for Vitality at the moment. But this is FURIA, and these two teams have practically identical map pools.

If you cast your mind back to the IEM Chengdu 2025 Final, where FURIA destroyed Vitality 3:0 in the middle of their record-breaking year, the maps played there were Ancient, Inferno, and Overpass. Ancient was a risky play from both – it was not part of either team’s pools, but Vitality did recently let it through against Aurora in Krakow, suggesting that they’re happy to let it go there again if necessary. But FURIA won there the first time around, and so a weak map like that remains a coin flip for both. Perhaps, this time, Vitality will be a little more risk-averse by using it as their ban in this veto.

When you get beyond Ancient, the main question becomes whether Anubis will feature. Neither team have played it post-changes, so allowing it through the veto is a risky move for either to take. If one team has come to the table with more new ideas than the other, it could get messy. Beyond this, Vitality and FURIA are both more than at home on Inferno, Nuke, Mirage, Dust2, and Overpass, but getting that straightforward a veto could bring the entire series down to the smallest of details.

You can’t discount the pressure of the occasion

Vitality are the definition of serial winners. Pressure? What pressure? They are seemingly unaffected by the scale of any occasion. I wouldn’t say they thrive on it, but they certainly don’t suffer when faced with crowds. They’ve simply won far too much to even entertain that conversation.

By contrast, FURIA have won a few events of their own, the biggest of which was IEM Chengdu 2025. Undeniably impressive. But IEM Krakow 2026 is a different beast entirely. A chance to take one of the biggest prizes Counter-Strike has to offer. One that has eluded FalleN throughout his entire career. This pressure is different.

We all saw FURIA at the Budapest Major. Falling short as soon as the pressure mounted in just the Quarter-Finals, when the expectations were a run to the Final at a minimum. It was tough going, but it may just be the canary in the coal mine for how the team handles the very biggest occasions. Perhaps not – perhaps the Major failure was simply an off day at the office, and they can handle this pressure just fine. But on current evidence, this is one factor that Vitality know they have a huge advantage with.

Vitality’s form is stunning

Although FURIA are in the IEM Krakow 2026 Grand Final, they have had to battle every step of the way to get there. A Lower Bracket run in Stage 2, where they lost to FUT. They dropped maps to The MongolZ, NAVI, and Astralis there, too. It was a fairly cold start to the event, and they had to warm into things. Even in the Playoffs, they went all three maps with Spirit. No shame in that, of course – it’s simply an observation.

But compare that with Vitality. Four best-of-threes played. Zero maps dropped. Flawless at IEM Krakow. They may have faced disappointment at Bounty, but this is the 2025 Vitality you’re seeing on the server right now. Firing on all cylinders, winning the kind of bulls*** rounds that leave you convinced the script has already been written.

So you have a FURIA only just starting to get warm, against a Vitality at the peak of their powers. While seeing FalleN get his hands on this trophy after all these years would be special, it’s going to take something equally magical to make the dream a reality. Vitality are convincing at every turn, and though the similar map pools could hold good omens for FURIA, I think this is one leap too far.

Our prediction: Vitality 3:1 FURIA