The action-packed battle for four spots in The International 2026 has begun in the European qualifier.
The International (TI) 2026's new European qualifier kicked off on Sunday (22 June) with some of the biggest favourites in the qualifier getting off to strong starts. 
Team Spirit, 
Nigma Galaxy, and 
Natus Vincere (NAVI) all won their respective opening matches to advance to the second round of the upper bracket.
Those teams will have a day to prepare before their next match as the other side of the bracket, featuring 
PARIVISION (playing as TEAM VISION), 
Virtus.pro, and 
MOUZ among others, will play their own opening matches.
The TI 2026 regional qualifiers will mark the first time that a unified European qualifier, featuring teams from both Western and Eastern Europe, will be played. Four spots in TI 2026 will be up for grabs in the European qualifier.
Spirit start strong with Miposhka's return as coach
Spirit entered the European qualifier with a new coach as former team captain 
Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov returned from an eight-month break from competitive play to coach his old team alongside 
Milan “MiLAN” Kozomara. Miposhka's first outing as Spirit's coach saw the team make short work of 
VP.Prodigy to advance to the second round of the upper bracket.
Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk and Denis “Larl” Sigitov had standout performances to lead their team to a 2-0 sweep over VP.Prodigy. In game one, Yatoro on Terrorblade finished with a clean seven kills and 11 assists in 42 minutes of action while Larl had nine kills and 15 assists against one death. Yatoro on Nature's Prophet then led Spirit in closing out the series with 12 kills and assists apiece against three deaths while Larl on Zeus added nine kills and 10 assists on two deaths.
Nigma Galaxy take down Rune Eaters as SumaiL returns and lorenof debuts
Nigma Galaxy also debuted a new roster in their opening match of the qualifier against 
Rune Eaters, with 
Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan returning to the carry spot and Artem “Lorenof” Melnick joining as the team's new mid laner.
Nigma Galaxy's core players shined in the opening game of the series where they took a comfortable win in just under 33 minutes of action. 
Cedric “Davai Lama” Deckmyn on Underlord led the way with 10 kills and 15 assists, SumaiL on Tiny added nine kills and 15 assists, while Lorenof on Viper had eight kills and 12 assists–with all three players finishing with just one death apiece.
Game two was a much closer affair as Rune Eaters held a dominant position for the majority of the game, forcing Nigma Galaxy to pull off a late game comeback to secure the 2-0 series sweep in 57 minutes. SumaiL on Necrophos led the way in the closeout game with 14 kills and 15 assists on five deaths while lorenof on Storm Spirit added 11 kills and 22 assists against six deaths.
NAVI sweep MODUS aside to advance to upper bracket semis
The third big name of the opening day of the European qualifier, NAVI, secured their spot in the second round of the upper bracket by soundly sweeping MODUS, 2-0, to open their TI 2026 campaign.
NAVI's cores led the way for their team in the opening game of the series, where they stomped MODUS to the tune of a 31-12 kill lead in 42 minutes of action. Artem “Niku” Bachkur on Snapfire had 10 kills and 12 assists on one death, Taras “gotthejuice” Linnikov on Lifestealer put up a clean eight kills and 10 assists, while Yurii “pma” Prots on Axe added nine kills and 16 assists on two deaths.
NAVI didn't lift their feet off the gas in game two, closing out the series 36 minutes with a 31-13 kill lead. Niku on Ember Spirit paced his team's kill count with eight kills and 14 assists, gotthejuice on Drow Ranger added seven kills and 12 assists, while pma on Axe once again added six kills and 12 assists–with Niku and gotthejuice only having one death apiece while pma had two.
What's next in the TI 2026 European qualifier?
With their victories in their opening matches, Spirit, Nigma Galaxy, and NAVI advance to the second round of the upper bracket. A victory there will see them advance to the third round, where one of the qualifier's four spots in TI 2026 will be up for grabs.
Spirit will face 
Enjoy, who defeated open qualifier squad 
Team Bald Reborn that is notably coached by streamer 
Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski. Meanwhile, Nigma Galaxy will be matched up against NAVI.
But before those matches can take place, the other side of the bracket–which includes the likes of TEAM VISION, MOUZ, and Virtus.pro–will play their own opening matches.
What are The International 2026 qualifier regions, dates, and slots?
The International 2026 regional qualifiers cover North America, South America, China, Southeast Asia, and a newly unified European region, replacing the traditional split between Western and Eastern Europe.
Here are the dates and slots per region of TI 2026 Closed Qualifiers:
China
- Dates: 15 -18 June
- Slot(s): 2
South America
- Dates: 15–19 June
- Slot(s): 1
SEA
- Dates: 19–23 June
- Slot(s): 1
Europe
- Dates: 21–28 June
- Slot(s): 4
North America
- Dates: 24–26 June
- Slot(s): 1
The qualifier winners will join the directly invited teams–
Aurora Gaming, 
BetBoom Team, 
Team Falcons,
Team Liquid, 
1w Team, 
Xtreme Gaming, and Team Yandex–to complete the 16-team field.
The list of qualified teams to TI 2026 so far include Chinese qualifier winners Team Resilience and
Vici Gaming as well as South American qualifier winner 
LGD Gaming.
The International 2026 will take place in Shanghai, China, from 13 to 23 August, with a current prize pool of US$1.6 million. The tournament's final four days will be held live at the Oriental Sports Center, where the world's best team will be crowned champions in this 15th edition of The International.
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