9z Team becomes first non-Brazilian LATAM squad to reach Major playoffs

For decades, Brazilian teams have been the undisputed gatekeepers of Latin American Counter-Strike on the world stage. Teams like MIBR, Luminosity, and FURIA built a dynasty so complete that “LATAM CS” and “Brazilian CS” became functionally synonymous. That era just got its first real crack.

9z Team, an Argentine esports organization, has officially reached the playoffs of the IEM Cologne Major 2026, becoming the first Latin American squad without an all-Brazilian core to hit that milestone in Counter-Strike history.

How they got here

The IEM Cologne Major 2026 uses a Swiss system format for its group stages, meaning teams need to win three rounds before losing three to advance. 9z navigated those waters with a mix of composure and outright audacity.

The signature moment came against Team Vitality, one of the most established organizations in all of Counter-Strike. 9z found themselves down in the series, staring at elimination, and proceeded to reverse sweep Vitality to advance. In English: they lost the first map, then won the next two to take the series.

The win reportedly disrupted nearly 98% of community Pick’Em predictions. For the uninitiated, Pick’Ems are essentially bracket challenges where fans predict match outcomes.

The team’s roster tells its own story about what “non-Brazilian LATAM” actually looks like in practice. The squad features meyern and luchov from Argentina, max and dgt from Uruguay, HUASOPEEK from Chile, and urban0 from Brazil. The organization and its core identity are distinctly Argentine: this isn’t a Brazilian team playing under a different flag. It’s a genuinely pan-South American roster built around Argentine infrastructure.

The long road from 2022

This isn’t 9z’s first time making history, though it’s comfortably their biggest. Back in 2022, the organization became the first non-Brazilian LATAM team to even qualify for a Counter-Strike Major.

The organization was founded in August 2018 by Argentine streamer Francisco “Frankkaster” Postiglione, and has steadily built itself into a legitimate competitive operation.

The IEM Cologne Major itself is one of the premier events on the Counter-Strike 2 calendar, featuring a prize pool estimated between $1.17 million and $1.25 million. The playoffs take place at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, a venue that holds roughly 18,000 spectators.

What this means for the competitive landscape

9z’s roster construction, pulling from four different countries, suggests a model that other non-Brazilian LATAM organizations could replicate. Rather than trying to compete with Brazil’s deeper domestic talent pool, you build a multinational squad that draws from the best available players across multiple smaller scenes.

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