Throughout the year, Dota teams around the world battle to prove themselves worthy of direct invitation to The International — and a chance to compete for the Aegis of Champions on the world's biggest stage. Teams that secure invites can begin to focus on their final preparations, while the remaining contenders face one last chance to fight their way in.
Direct Invites
With less than three months until we raise the curtains on the big show, we’re excited to extend these seven teams invitations to Shanghai, China to compete in The International 2026:
- Aurora Gaming
- BoomBoys
- Team Falcons
- Team Liquid
- Tundra Esports
- Xtreme Gaming
- Team Yandex
Regional Qualifiers
The seven teams above have already earned invitations, which means there are still nine slots available at TI, just waiting for the squads that can survive the crucible of Regional Qualifiers. This year, we've merged the Eastern and Western Europe qualifiers into one single European qualifier with four advancement slots. Check out the full schedule below.
- China, June 15-18 (2 slots)
- South America, June 15-19 (1 slot)
- Southeast Asia, June 19-23 (1 slot)
- Europe, June 21-28 (4 slots)
- North America, June 24-26 (1 slot)
Once qualifiers wrap up on June 28, we'll have the full tournament field decided, and the next stop is Shanghai. Group Stage kicks off August 13 - 16 with a three-day, five-round Swiss bracket, followed by five elimination matches played on Sunday. The eight remaining teams bring the competition into the arena August 20 - 23, where the Aegis of Champions awaits.
