The International 2026 direct invites, regional qualifier slots, and schedule announced

The International 2026 will have only seven directly-invited teams, as well as a new unified regional qualifier for Europe.

Dota 2 developer Valve has finally revealed the seven teams that earned direct invites to The International (TI) 2026, this year's iteration of the game's annual world championship tournament. In addition, the slot allocation and schedule for the TI 2026 regional qualifiers have also been revealed.

Unlike previous years, only seven teams earned direct invites to this year's TI, namely defending champions Team Falcons, Team Liquid, and Tundra Esports from Western Europe; Aurora Gaming, Team Yandex, and BetBoom Team from Eastern Europe, and Xtreme Gaming from China.

Valve did not disclose the reason why only seven teams were given direct invites to TI 2026, down from the usual eight from previous iterations of the event.

TI 2026 regional qualifiers to begin in June, Europe to have one unified qualifier with four slots

With only seven directly-invited teams this year, nine slots in TI 2026 will be up for grabs in the regional qualifiers. Valve has also introduced a change to the TI regional qualifier this year, by merging Western Europe and Eastern Europe into one single qualifier with four advancement slots, compared to previous years when the two regions had their own qualifiers.

As for the slot allocation for the rest of the regions, China will have two slots while Southeast Asia, North America, and South America will have one slot each.

The TI 2026 qualifier cycle will take place in June, starting with open qualifiers from 9 to 12 June followed by the regional qualifiers proper from 15 to 26 June. The teams playing in the regional qualifiers will include a number of directly-invited teams, as well as teams that will be coming from open qualifiers.

Below are the schedules, and the list of directly-invited teams to the different regional qualifiers:

China (15-18 June)

Vici Gaming
Roar Gaming
Yakutou Brothers
Team Resilience
4 Open Qualifier teams

South America (15-19 June)

LGD Gaming
PlayTime
Estar Backs
Red Hot Chili Pibble
Amaru Gaming
Hokori
4 Open Qualifier teams

Southeast Asia (19-23 June)

REKONIX
OG
Execration
Team Nemesis
GLYPH
5 Open Qualifier teams

Europe (21-28 June)

TEAM VISION
Team Spirit
MOUZ
Natus Vincere
Nigma Galaxy
Virtus.pro
enjoy
Power Rangers
8 Open Qualifier teams

North America (24-26 June)

GamerLegion
3 Open Qualifier teams

What is The International 2026?

TI 2026 will be this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual world championship tournament, taking place in August in Shanghai, China. As with previous iterations of the tournament, TI 2026 will feature a total of 16 teams that earn their spots in the tournament by receiving direct invites or earning slots through regional qualifiers.

TI 2026's main event will be hosted in the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai. Valve first announced that Shanghai will host TI 2026 during last year's world championship tournament, where Team Falcons claimed the Aegis of Champions after defeating China's Xtreme Gaming in the five-game grand finals.

This will mark the second time that Shanghai will host TI after TI 2019, where Western Europe's OG became the first-ever two-time TI champions after defeating Team Liquid in four games to claim the grand prize of US$15.6 million, out of the US$34.3 million prize pool.

TI 2026 will be split into two phases: the ‘Road to The International’ and ‘The International’ main event. The Road to The International will be a Swiss-style Group Stage from 13 to 16 August, where the 16 teams will be cut down to the final eight that will play in the game's biggest stage from 20 to 23 August in Shanghai's Oriental Sports Center.

While Valve have yet to reveal the details on TI 2026's prize pool, the tournament is expected to follow last year's prize pool format with a US$1.6 million base prize pool. The prize pool will then be boosted through sales of the TI 2026 Compendium.