The International 2026 has gathered 16 of the world's best Dota 2 teams in Shanghai to play for the Aegis of Champions and a $2.9 million prize pool, Dot Esports reports. Seven of the teams received direct invites; the remaining nine earned their places through regional qualifiers.
Defending champions Team Falcons headline the field, which also includes TEAM VISION (PARIVISION), Team Liquid, Team Spirit, Iron Wing and Aurora Gaming. A second title would put Falcons alongside OG, Team Spirit and Team Liquid as two-time winners of the event. The organisation's coach, Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling, is chasing a fourth title and a third as a coach, while captain-support Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun and carry Oliver “skiter” Lepko are aiming to become the first players to lift the Aegis three times.
Schedule
The tournament runs from August 13 to 23. The Swiss group stage occupies August 13 to 16, and the playoffs run August 20 to 23, with the Main Event held at the Oriental Sports Center.
Opening day put Falcons against LGD Gaming, Nigma Galaxy against Iron Wing, BoomBoys against OG and TEAM VISION against Team Resilience in the first block of matches at 10am UTC+8, followed by Team Spirit against Xtreme Gaming, Team Liquid against Vici Gaming, Aurora Gaming against GamerLegion and Team Yandex against HULIGANI at 1pm UTC+8.
Format
Valve has kept the two-phase structure that separates the group stage from the bracket:
- The group stage is a 16-team Swiss system in which every match is a best-of-three.
- The top three teams advance directly to the Main Event.
- Teams finishing fourth through 13th drop into the Elimination Round; the bottom three are knocked out.
- The Elimination Round sends five more teams to the Main Event and eliminates the other five.
- The Main Event is a double-elimination bracket, all best-of-three except for a best-of-five grand final.
Standings, results and the full team rosters are updated as the tournament progresses, and every match is carried on the official Dota 2 broadcast channels.
