Underdogs HULIGANI exit The International 2026 in last place after losing to OG.
The third day of The International (TI) 2026 Group Stage has produced its first elimination, with Eastern European underdogs 
HULIGANI (aka L1GA TEAM) becoming the first team to exit this year’s world championship tournament. The squad suffered four consecutive losses throughout the Group Stage, with Southeast Asian side 
OG delivering the final nail in the coffin.
HULIGANI exit the tournament in 16th place with an estimated US$14,000 in consolation. The team were widely considered the biggest underdogs at TI 2026, fielding the least experienced roster with three TI debutants–
Miras “Mirage`” Mutanov, 
Ivan “Corrupted” German, and Ilya “ssnovv1” Lavrenkin. Naturally, there was little pressure on the team to make it out of the Group Stage.
With the 2-1 result from the intense series, OG earn a brief respite as they avoided their first threat of elimination. However, the team still need to win their next series to escape Group Stage elimination entirely and advance to the next round. OG’s fate in the tournament will be determined later today, when they face another team with a 1-3 record for a spot in the Elimination Round.
A look into OG and HULIGANI’s TI 2026 Group Stage runs
Heading into TI 2026, there were little expectations for HULIGANI and OG to make a deep run. But there were higher hopes for OG to somewhat perform considering the team’s pedigree and impressive track record earlier this season, during which OG claimed consecutive Top 6 finishes and a Top 4 result at BLAST Slam VI in February.
On the opening day of TI 2026’s Group Stage, OG faced 
BoomBoys (aka BetBoom Team), one of the tournament favourites, and posted an early 0-2 score. This was followed by an intense battle against another fan-favourite, 
Nigma Galaxy, where OG slipped to another 0-2 series defeat. OG suffered the same fate the following day, getting swept by China’s 
Team Resilience to push them further down the Group Stage standings. It wasn’t until their backs were against the wall that they finally secured their first game victory, prevailing 2-1 over HULIGANI to survive their first elimination threat. The SEA representatives will play their final Group Stage match in several hours, which will determine whether they remain in the tournament.
Meanwhile, HULIGANI entered the Group Stage with little to no pressure on their shoulders. The team were paired against powerhouse 
Team Yandex and lost 0-2. In their next series, HULIGANI challenged 
Vici Gaming, taking a map off the Chinese veterans but ultimately fell with a 1-2 score. On the second day, HULIGANI met another Chinese representative, losing to 
Xtreme Gaming in a rough 0-2 performance and ultimately falling to a 0-3 record. Their TI 2026 campaign ended after losing to OG on the third day of the Group Stage, failing to win a single series.
How OG eliminated HULIGANI from The International 2026
OG opened their elimination series with Keeper of the Light for 
Timothy “TIMS” Randrup, Kez for John Anthony “Natsumi-” Vargas, Witch Doctor for Rolen Andre Gabriel “Skem” Ong, Storm Spirit for Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer, and Dark Seer for Marc Polo Luis “Raven” Faustoto round out their team-fighting potential.
HULIGANI, meanwhile, opted for several meta-centric picks, with Centaur Warrunner for Corrupted, Undying for 
Egor “RESPECT” Procurat, Earthshaker for Oleg “sayuw” Kalenbet, Shadow Fiend for Mirage, and Sven for ssnovv1.
The lane pairing proved highly effective for skem’s Witch Doctor and Natsumi’s Kez, who heavily suffocated Corrupted’s Centaur Warrunner and forced him out of the lane early on. OG picked up several early kills, but HULIGANI managed to find some pick-offs of their own to slow OG’s momentum and prevent them from snowballing.
Into the mid-game, both teams focused on building up their resources, but a deep Observer Ward in OG’s triangle allowed HULIGANI to ambush an unsuspecting Natsumi on Kez, bursting him down in seconds. OG responded quickly, but HULIGANI managed to slip away with their Black King Bars activated.
Despite the hiccup, OG continued to display better group movement, finding successful invasions and pick-offs while HULIGANI were often spread across the map and unable to fight back. OG claimed an Aegis and began making more aggressive plays, but the team lacked the confidence to fully commit to the enemy high ground, dragging the game out into the super late game.
The team finally found a game-winning fight near the river around the 50-minute mark, executing an excellent Wall and Vacuum combination from Raven’s Dark Seer alongside Keeper of the Light’s Will-O-Wisp. By this point, ssnovv1’s Sven was already incredibly strong, but OG managed to kite him around and eliminate the enemy carry. This opened the path to HULIGANI’s base. In the late game, Yopaj’s Storm Spirit made multiple Vortex plays to catch the backline and set up another brutal combo from OG, sealing the first-map victory at the 60th minute.
The second game saw both teams tweak their drafts. OG picked up a comfort Mirana for TIMS, Undying for skem, Shadow Fiend for Natsumi, Ember Spirit for Yopaj, and a sustain-oriented Largo for Raven.
HULIGANI retained Centaur Warrunner for Corrupted, but brought in Invoker for Mirage, Dark Willow for sayuw, Drow Ranger for ssnovv1, and a last-pick Elder Titan flex for RESPECT.
Both teams opened the second game with aggressive plays across the lanes, but OG ultimately established better control of the map. A Roshan fight at the 21-minute mark saw OG successfully ambush HULIGANI, winning the engagement and claiming both of ssnovv1’s lives on Drow Ranger.
An exchange around the 30-minute mark saw both teams teetering around each other, accompanied by a barrage of misplays. ssnovv1’s Drow Ranger was caught out and failed to activate BKB in time, allowing OG to burst her down in the ambush. However, Raven’s Largo was also caught on the other side. An overextension then saw Yopaj’s Ember Spirit get caught in Mirage’s Invoker combo, swinging the net worth advantage towards HULIGANI and allowing them to claim an Aegis shortly afterwards.
Minutes later, HULIGANI found OG near the enemy triangle, leading to yet another chaotic fight, with Drow Ranger standing on the frontlines while holding the Aegis. Mirage’s Invoker and sayuw’s Dark Willow delivered strong crowd control, creating enough space for Drow to fire freely. The teamfight victory led to HULIGANI destroying two lanes of barracks and building a 13K net worth lead.
Another Aegis grab was all HULIGANI needed to secure the game victory. Despite skem’s Undying making multiple clutch saves with Tombstone, OG were unable to take down any HULIGANI members. A heavily farmed Drow Ranger was able to fire upon the Ancient from a distance, leaving OG with no answers.
For the decider, OG returned to a similar draft from the first game, bringing back the lane-punishing duo of Natsumi’s Kez and skem’s Witch Doctor. They were joined by Hoodwink for TIMS, Enigma for Raven, and Pangolier for Yopaj.
HULIGANI retained most of their previous picks, with Centaur Warrunner for Corrupted, Drow Ranger for ssnovv1, Undying for RESPECT, Dark Willow for sayuw, and Earthshaker for Mirage.
With elimination just one loss away, OG finally locked in and delivered textbook precision from the early game. They dominated all three lanes, with the Enigma-Hoodwink pairing particularly punishing the Drow Ranger-Undying duo. OG brought in additional rotations to shut down the lane and quickly claimed the Tier 1 tower.
Throughout the game, OG’s cores led the net worth chart as they continued to extend their advantage beyond the 20-minute mark, posting a 21-3 kill score and a 12K net worth lead. Despite hesitating to siege the enemy high ground, OG eventually found a game-winning fight outside HULIGANI’s base, where Raven’s Enigma jumped in to deliver a four-man Black Hole, effectively sealing the series victory just minutes later.
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.
The list of directly-invited teams to TI 2026 include 
Aurora Gaming, BoomBoys (aka BetBoom Team), 
Team Falcons, 
Team Liquid, 
Iron Wing (aka 1w Team), 
Xtreme Gaming, and 
Team Yandex. Meanwhile, the teams that earned their spots through the regional qualifiers include European qualifier winners 
Team Spirit, 
TEAM VISION (aka PARIVISION), HULIGANI, and 
Nigma Galaxy, North American qualifier winner 
GamerLegion, Southeast Asian qualifier winner 
OG, South American qualifier winner 
LGD Gaming, as well as Chinese qualifier winners 
Vici Gaming and Team Resilience.
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.
TI 2026's prize pool follows that of previous editions, with a US$1.6 million base prize pool that will then be boosted through sales of the TI 2026 Compendium.
For Dota 2 match results and updates on the go, don't forget to check out our Telegram channel.
