IEM Rio groups and opening matchups revealed
ESL has announced the groups and opening matchups for IEM Rio, scheduled to run from October 7-13 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with $250,000 on offer.
In following with ESL's usual format for its "Masters"-tier events, the 16 teams have been split into two groups from which the upper bracket final winners advance directly to the playoff semi-finals, and the upper bracket final losers and lower bracket final winners advance to the quarter-finals.
Group A is headlined by newly-crowned ESL Pro League S20 champions Natus Vincere and features two of the most exciting openers: A rematch of Liquid and Complexity's playoff bout in Malta, and FaZe up against FURIA Esports .
Pro League runners-up Eternal Fire and Astralis are set to lock horns in Group B, with G2 and Heroic also facing in the opening round.
The schedule and and draw for all opening matchups can be found below:
Group A
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| IEM Rio 2024 | ||
| 07/10/2024 |
FaZe
 22:00
|
Match |
| 07/10/2024 |
22:00
 pain |
Match |
| 07/10/2024 |
Natus Vincere
 23:00
|
Match |
| 07/10/2024 |
Liquid
 23:00
 Complexity |
Match |
Group B
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| IEM Rio 2024 | ||
| 08/10/2024 |
00:00
|
Match |
| 08/10/2024 |
00:00
|
Match |
| 08/10/2024 |
01:00
|
Match |
| 08/10/2024 |
01:00
|
Match |
