The first day of IEM Beijing 2026 ended with NAVI beating Falcons 2-0 in the last series of the opening round. The main broadcast matches were played in front of a crowd on a 360-degree stage.
In Group B, Aurora, whose lineup includes Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski, lost 0-2 to Liquid. Aurora will now face G2 in the first round of elimination matches in the lower bracket. G2 lost their opener to PARIVISION 2-1.
The other lower bracket series in Group B is TYLOO against 9z, after the former lost 2-0 to MOUZ and the latter fell 2-1 to BETBOOM.
In Group A, FURIA beat FaZe 2-1, HEROIC defeated B8 2-0, and The MongolZ took down Legacy 2-1. Falcons and FaZe will meet in the first round of elimination matches.
In NAVI's win over Falcons, Ancient finished 13-5, with Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov posting a 2.24 rating, his highest of the year. Mirage was much closer, and NAVI took it 13-11.