Welcome to all esports and Counter-Strike 2 fans! From July 23 to August 3, 2025, one of the biggest summer tournaments — IEM Cologne 2025 — is taking place. As of July 29, the decisive stages of the Group Stage are underway, namely the Upper Bracket Final and Lower Bracket Final. Among these, we highlight the match between MOUZ and Team Spirit. Although both teams have already qualified for the playoffs, the outcome of this match will determine which stage they start from. While the teams prepare, we’ll share our CS2 betting tips and match previews.
How the bookies view it: Team Spirit favorite
Most bookmakers slightly favor Team Spirit, with odds of around 1.8, compared to 1.9 for MOUZ. This might seem surprising, as Team Spirit is one of the strongest teams at the moment — which only confirms how well MOUZ has been performing at IEM Cologne 2025.
MOUZ form. What result can be expected from MOUZ
Our CS2 betting prediction for the MOUZ vs. Team Spirit matchup begin with analyzing MOUZ form. In this match at IEM Cologne 2025, they are the favorite.
MOUZ roster: torzsi, xertioN, Jimpphat, Brollan, Spinx.
We traditionally begin the analysis with the 2023 season. Back then, MOUZ were not as formidable a team as they are now, but they were already showing promising results. At IEM Cologne 2023, MOUZ defeated The MongolZ, NiP, and NaVi, but then lost two matches and finished in 9th–12th place.
In their debut match at ESL Pro League Season 18, MOUZ played against mibr. Despite being the favorite, the team unexpectedly lost to the Brazilians and ended up in the lower bracket of Group B. The group stage was mixed for MOUZ but ultimately successful. A loss in the upper bracket seemed to energize the team — they easily passed their opponents, including Heroic, in the lower bracket. Without a single loss in the lower bracket, MOUZ advanced further.
MOUZ showed even better performance in the playoffs. They defeated FURIA, swept FaZe Clan, followed by wins over G2 Esports and ENCE. In the grand final of ESL Pro League S18, MOUZ beat NaVi 3-0, becoming the tournament champions.
Their strong performances continued at IEM Sydney 2023 (3rd–4th place), CS Asia Championships 2023 (2nd place), and BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 (3rd–4th place). It was in the 2023 season that MOUZ began to be considered a serious threat on the professional CS2 scene.
The 2024 season was no less eventful for MOUZ. The team first placed in the top 8 at PGL Major CS2 Copenhagen 2024, then solidified their success with a 2nd place finish at Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu 2024.
At ESL Pro League Season 19, MOUZ once again proved their strength in this tournament. They looked very confident in the playoffs — winning the entire championship and sweeping Vitality 3-0 in the grand final.
At IEM Dallas 2024, they only finished in the top 12 — a surprising result for a team of this caliber.
At the Esports World Cup 2024, MOUZ started with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Sashi Esports. In the playoffs, they defeated FURIA (2-1) and finished in the top 4, losing to NaVi in the final.
At IEM Cologne 2024, the situation was similar — MOUZ played well again and finished in the top 4, once again losing to NaVi.
At ESL Pro League Season 20, MOUZ unexpectedly underperformed and failed to reach the playoffs. This may have been due to fatigue, as MOUZ had a very busy season.
At IEM Rio 2024, MOUZ returned to form, defeating Complexity and FaZe. In the playoffs, they beat Vitality (2-1) and FURIA (2-0), but lost the final to NaVi 1-3, finishing 2nd. At BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 — top 6.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024, they reached the elimination stage thanks to a top 1-2 finish at European RMR A. They started with a win over paiN Gaming, but then lost to MongolZ and FaZe, followed by a victory over 3DMax. In a do-or-die match, they beat MIBR. In the playoffs, they defeated MongolZ 2-0 (with some difficulties) but lost to Spirit 0-2.
The 2025 season started off rough. At BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, the team only placed in the top 32, and at IEM Katowice 2025, they were eliminated in the group stage, finishing 16th.
MOUZ showed a strong result at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025. The team began with wins over BIG and 3DMax, but then lost to Falcons and FaZe. In the decisive match, they defeated VP and reached the main stage. In the playoffs, they successively beat paiN Gaming, Astralis, and Falcons, becoming the tournament champions.
This was followed by a series of podium finishes:
- 2nd place at ESL Pro League Season 21, BLAST Open Spring 2025, and IEM Dallas 2025;
- 3rd–4th place at IEM Melbourne 2025, BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, and BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.
At IEM Cologne 2025, MOUZ defeated Team Liquid and NaVi 2-0 and advanced to the Group Stage Upper Bracket Final.
Team Spirit form. What result can be expected from Team Spirit
Team Spirit can be considered one of the best CS2 teams in recent years, and this is backed up by strong results.
The 2023 season was intense for Spirit. The esports club played wherever they could, but they failed to achieve significant results. They started with participation in IEM Katowice 2023, where they finished in the top 12.
One of the biggest tournaments of 2023 for Spirit was ESL Pro League Season 17, where the "Dragons" placed 21st–28th, which was a poor result for them.
From mid-year to the end, Spirit played in smaller tournaments and performed quite successfully. Among their main achievements in the 2023 season were a victory at CCT North Europe Series #6, second place at CCT Online Finals #2, and wins at Dunav Party LAN and Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #2.
Team Spirit roster: chopper, zont1x, sh1ro, donk, zweih.
The 2024 season turned out clearly better for Team Spirit. From the beginning of the year, the team regularly reached finals or prize-winning positions in most tournaments.
At IEM Katowice 2024, Spirit started from the Play-In stage. There, they crushed Apeks 13-0 without a chance, and then confidently (except for two maps) defeated MongolZ 2-0, thus advancing to the group stage. The group stage also brought no issues: giving up only one map to NaVi, they easily beat CoL and FaZe Clan 2-0.
The IEM Katowice 2024 playoffs confirmed Spirit’s dominance — they easily shut down Falcons (2-0), and in the grand final, defeated FaZe even more confidently (3-0).
After their triumph at Katowice 2024, Spirit went to PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major 2024, where they reached the playoffs but lost to FaZe Clan in the first round of the main stage. Final standing — top 8.
At BB Dacha, Spirit showed decent performance, but a 0-3 loss to MOUZ in the grand final slightly spoiled the impression.
At IEM Dallas 2024, Spirit went through the group stage very easily, not dropping a single map in Group B. However, they couldn't go all the way in the playoffs: Vitality interfered at the top-4 stage and knocked them out of the tournament.
Later, Spirit won BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024. After that came a string of unsuccessful performances: top 8 and top 16 at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024.
At ESL Pro League Season 20, Spirit played slightly worse. The team got a series of wins, but in the playoffs lost to NaVi and finished 5th–8th.
Spirit also played at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024, where they again failed to find success — only top 6. At BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, Spirit started in Group B, competing with G2 Esports, Vitality, and Liquid. The final score was 1-1: a win against Vitality and a loss to G2 in the seeding match. In the playoffs, they made it all the way to the grand final, where they once again lost to G2 with a score of 0-3.
The main tournament of the year for the team was the Shanghai Major 2024. In the Elimination stage, the team lost to FURIA, then defeated Wildcard and NaVi, and in the match for a full Bo3 series, beat Heroic.
In the PW Shanghai Major 2024 playoffs, Spirit started with a win over Liquid, defeated MOUZ in the semifinals, and in the grand final overcame FaZe, becoming world champions for the first time in the club's history.
The 2025 season has also been quite successful for Team Spirit. Among the main achievements are 1st place at BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 and PGL Astana 2025, 2nd place at IEM Katowice 2025, and 3rd–4th place at ESL Pro League Season 21, BLAST Open Spring 2025, and BLAST Rivals Spring 2025.
At IEM Cologne 2025, Team Spirit defeated HEROIC and Aurora Gaming 2-0 and advanced to the Group Stage Upper Bracket Final.
Recent head to head
MOUZ and Team Spirit have played against each other 10 times, and each team has won 5 matches. The match at IEM Cologne 2025 will be very interesting, as it will determine which stage each team starts the playoffs from and who takes the lead in head-to-head battles.
Which maps does MOUZ pick and ban most often?
Let’s analyze both teams map statistics in 2025 to make smart CS2 tips.
Strong maps
- Nuke: high win percentage (70.8%) with 24 matches played.
- Ancient: high win percentage (66.7%) with 15 matches played.
- Train: high win percentage (66.7%) with 9 matches played.
Average results
- Miragee: average winning percentage (59.9%) with 22 matches played.
- Dust2: average winning percentage (55.6%) with 18 matches played.
Weak maps
- Inferno: low win percentage (45.5%) with 22 matches played.
Which maps does Team Spirit pick and ban most often?
Strong maps
- Dust2: high win percentage (85.7%) with 21 matches played.
- Train: high win percentage (85.7%) with 7 matches played.
- Anubis: high win percentage (72.7%) with 11 matches played.
Average results
- Nuke: average winning percentage (68.4%) with 19 matches played.
- Ancient: average winning percentage (62.5%) with 8 matches played.
Weak maps
- Mirage: low win percentage (58.3%) with 12 matches played.
Predicted result of the match between MOUZ and Team Spirit at IEM Cologne 2025
It is quite difficult to predict the exact outcome of this match — most analysts would agree. Both teams are in good form and are not ready to give up. In our opinion, judging by past results, Team Spirit will win this match at IEM Cologne 2025. Fans should expect an exciting and dynamic match.
Betting prediction: Team Spirit wins.
