The International 2026's Group Stage came to a close with some surprising results, including Nigma Galaxy advancing directly to the Playoffs.
The International (TI) 2026's action-packed Group Stage came to a close on Saturday (15 August) as three teams had their campaigns for this year's Aegis of Champions ended, three more advanced directly to the Playoffs, while the remaining 10 squads were pit into the Elimination Stage.
The three teams that failed to make it out of the TI 2026 Group Stage include Eastern European underdogs 
HULIGANI, Southeast Asia's 
OG, and last year's runners-up in 
Xtreme Gaming.
OG defeated HULIGANI in the 0-3 Elimination Match in Round 4, only to get swept out of the tournament by North America's 
GamerLegion in Round 5. Meanwhile, Xtreme's run came to an end in a 2-0 sweep at the hands of fellow Chinese hopefuls 
Team Resilience.
Tournament favourites 
TEAM VISION (aka PARIVISION) finished the Group Stage as the top seed, becoming the first team to secure a spot in the Playoffs with a 2-0 sweep over regional rivals 
Team Spirit in Round 4. Western European powerhouse 
Team Liquid were the second team to qualify for the Playoffs after they defeated Eastern Europe's 
Aurora Gaming in the first Playoff Advancement Match of Round 5. Surprise contender 
Nigma Galaxy then secured the third Playoff spot with a massive 2-0 upset over Spirit in the final match of the day.
That then leaves Resilience, GamerLegion, Aurora, Spirit, defending champions 
Team Falcons, 
Team Yandex, 
BoomBoys (aka BetBoom Team), 
Iron Wing (aka 1w Team), 
Vici Gaming, and 
LGD Gaming as the 10 teams that will be battling in the Elimination Stage for the final five spots in the Playoffs on Sunday (16 August).
TI 2026 Group Stage Day 3 results
Round 4
3-0 Playoff Advancement Match:
- TEAM VISION 2-0 Team Spirit
2-1 matches:
- Team Liquid 2-1 Iron Wing
- BoomBoys 0-2 Aurora Gaming
- Nigma Galaxy 2-0 Vici Gaming
1-2 matches:
- LGD Gaming 2-1 Xtreme Gaming
- Team Falcons 2-1 GamerLegion
- Team Yandex 1-2 Team Resilience
0-3 Elimination Match:
- OG 2-1 HULIGANI
Round 5
3-1 Playoff Advancement Matches:
- Aurora Gaming 1-2 Team Liquid
- Team Spirit 0-2 Nigma Galaxy
2-2 matches:
- BoomBoys 1-2 Team Falcons
- LGD Gaming 2-0 Vici Gaming
- Team Yandex 1-2 Iron Wing
1-3 Elimination Matches:
- Xtreme Gaming 0-2 Team Resilience
- OG 0-2 GamerLegion
Who will be facing off in the TI 2026 Elimination Stage?
The TI 2026 Elimination Stage will pit the ten teams that finished the Group Stage with 3-2 and 2-3 records in one final best-of-three match, with the winners advancing to the Playoffs while the losers will be eliminated from the tournament.
Here are the matchups for the TI 2026 Elimination Stage:
- Team Falcons (3-2) vs Vici Gaming (2-3)
- Aurora Gaming (3-2) vs BoomBoys (2-3)
- Team Spirit (3-2) vs Team Resilience (2-3)
- Iron Wing (3-2) vs GamerLegion (2-3)
- LGD Gaming (3-2) vs Team Yandex (2-3)
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.
