After winning the opening matches in Group A at ESL One Cologne, Chaos and 100 Thieves will play in the upper bracket final, while FURIA and Gen.G will play for survival.
Chaos and FURIA met for the second time in just five days in a match that had Joshua "steel" Nissan's men hoping for a turn in the tide as they had never beaten the Brazilian squad across three encounters dating back to May.
Things quickly started looking hopeful for the North American side when they didn't get smothered on the Terrorist side of Nuke the same way they had back at DreamHack Open Summer, managing an early 5-2 lead off a forcebuy win in the third round and picking up a couple more to stay near-equal by halftime. FURIA seized control early in the second half, but another pistol buy from Chaos stopped the Brazilians in their tracks, and after a couple of close retakes the first map went the way of Nathan "leaf" Orf & co.
Chaos looked in great shape going into Inferno with a dominant start, and despite a good run from FURIA towards the end of the half they kept their lead. Winning a forcebuy back-and-forth off a quad-kill from Erick "Xeppaa" Bach, the North Americans went on to reach a 13-8 scoreline, but another late comeback saw the second map go to overtime. Nonetheless, Chaos still managed to come out on top after surviving two map points in the first set, with the core their first-ever series win against FURIA at 22-19, 2-0.
In Group A's other opening match, 100 Thieves were the first to strike on Vertigo, much thanks to a big streak at the beginning of the half that had the Australians in a 9-2 lead. There was still life left in Gen.G, who finished the half with four in a row and challenged their opponents to a close map, after all, but 100 Thieves stayed in control the entire time and closed it out at 16-13.
Damian "daps" Steele's men retaliated on Nuke with a strong offensive half, where they claimed nine rounds and stayed in the driving seat for the whole defense to equalize the series and head to Inferno. There, Gen.G continued on a dominant path with an 8-1 start, but 100 Thieves gave themselves a chance late on the defense and went on to decimate the North American team on the T side, completing the comeback at 16-13, 2-1.
ESL One Cologne 2020 North AmericaBest of 3
FURIA
Matchpage 0 2 18th August 2020 
Chaos 11Nuke 16 19Inferno 22 | FURIA | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henrique 'HEN1' TelesHEN1 | 55 - 41 | +14 | 80.0 | 1.26 |
| Kaike 'KSCERATO' CeratoKSCERATO | 43 - 47 | -4 | 73.4 | 1.03 |
| Vinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoVINI | 45 - 48 | -3 | 63.7 | 0.93 |
| Yuri 'yuurih' Santosyuurih | 38 - 50 | -12 | 75.9 | 0.91 |
| Andrei 'arT' PiovezanarT | 44 - 56 | -12 | 71.3 | 0.83 |
| Chaos | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Joshua 'steel' Nissansteel | 53 - 46 | +7 | 95.1 | 1.31 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' CareyJonji | 53 - 49 | +4 | 82.8 | 1.23 |
| Nathan 'leaf' Orfleaf | 54 - 45 | +9 | 81.2 | 1.13 |
| Erick 'Xeppaa' BachXeppaa | 46 - 49 | -3 | 71.1 | 0.98 |
| Anthony 'vanity' Malaspinavanity | 34 - 36 | -2 | 58.4 | 0.89 |
100 Thieves
Matchpage 2 1 18th August 2020 
Gen.G 16Vertigo 13 11Nuke 16 16Inferno 13 | 100 Thieves | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin 'jks' Savagejks | 61 - 57 | +4 | 87.0 | 1.20 |
| Jay 'Liazz' TregillgasLiazz | 62 - 60 | +2 | 90.9 | 1.13 |
 Sean 'Gratisfaction' KaiwaiGratisfaction | 63 - 64 | -1 | 77.4 | 1.09 |
 Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostadjkaem | 58 - 60 | -2 | 68.1 | 1.03 |
| Aaron 'AZR' WardAZR | 40 - 62 | -22 | 48.8 | 0.73 |
| Gen.G | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenneth 'koosta' Suenkoosta | 73 - 57 | +16 | 96.4 | 1.34 |
| Sam 's0m' Ohs0m | 55 - 56 | -1 | 80.1 | 1.08 |
 Hansel 'BnTeT' FerdinandBnTeT | 58 - 55 | +3 | 77.6 | 1.07 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic | 59 - 58 | +1 | 71.9 | 1.01 |
| Damian 'daps' Steeledaps | 51 - 60 | -9 | 63.9 | 0.89 |
Nathan 'leaf' Orf 
Age: 16 Team: Chaos Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 189 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.68 Chaos #28 Joshua 'steel' NissanAnthony 'vanity' MalaspinaJonathan 'Jonji' CareyErick 'Xeppaa' BachNathan 'leaf' Orf Joshua 'steel' Nissan 
Age: 30 Team: Chaos Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 612 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.69 
Gen.G #15 Hansel 'BnTeT' FerdinandDamian 'daps' SteeleTimothy 'autimatic' TaKenneth 'koosta' SuenSam 's0m' Oh 
100 Thieves #18 Justin 'jks' SavageAaron 'AZR' WardJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadSean 'Gratisfaction' KaiwaiJay 'Liazz' Tregillgas Damian 'daps' Steele 
Age: 27 Team: Gen.G Rating 1.0: 0.87 Maps played: 1015 KPR: 0.58 DPR: 0.66 FURIA #6 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesAndrei 'arT' PiovezanYuri 'yuurih' SantosVinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoKaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato Erick 'Xeppaa' Bach 
Age: 20 Team: Chaos Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 255 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.68 (责任编辑：cs cases free)
