Ahead of day three of ESL One Cologne, the first four teams already advanced to the big stage, while four others were sent packing. Now, the eight remaining contenders clashed one last time during the group stage to determine the final teams to join Gambit, Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro and SK Gaming in the playoffs of ESL One Cologne 2016!

The final matches of groups

The deciding matches of the group stage were nothing but thrilling. Starting off the day with two stretched games, both going over the full three maps, it was the struck Astralis - playing with two stand ins - and the underdogs of FlipSid3 Tactics, taking the first two spots for the playoffs. For Flipsid3 this marks their premier in playoffs at a CS:GO Major, while NiP misses them for the very first time. Going forward, Team Liquid crushed the dreams of mousesports with a somewhat swift 2-0, before Fnatic was able to send FaZe Clan packing in the final day of the match by the same score.

The results of the decider matches:
Group A: Astralis 2-1 Team Dignitas
Group B: Ninjas in Pyjamas 1-2 FlipSid3 Tactics
Group C: Team Liquid 2-0 mousesports
Group D: FaZe Clan 0-2 Fnatic

Check out the VODs on the ESL CS:GO YouTube!

The playoffs coming up

On Friday, the playoffs in LANXESS arena will kick off the main event of ESL One Cologne 2016. Join us from 8:00 CEST in the venue or from 10:00 CEST on the ESL One live page to see live which teams can continue their run for the title!

The quarterfinals:
#1: Virtus.Pro versus Astralis
#2: SK Gaming versus FlipSid3
#3: Natus Vincere versus Team Liquid
#4: Gambit versus Fnatic

Find highlights, results and way more by following ESL Counter-Strike on Twitter and Facebook!