The International 2026 kicks off on August 13, starting the biggest event of the Dota 2 calendar as 16 teams compete for the Aegis of Champions.
Insider Gaming has all you need to know to follow Dota 2’s most prestigious tournament as The International 15 plays out in Shanghai.
The International 2026 Schedule and Format
August 13-23
Group Stage: 13-16
Playoffs: August 20-23
Group Stage Format:
Swiss Stage:
- Swiss system, all matches Bo3
- Top three advance to playoffs
- 4th-13th advance to elimination round
- 14-16th eliminated
Elimination Round:
- 10-team single-elimination Bo3 bracket
- Five winners advance to Playoffs
Playoffs:
- Eight-team double-elimination bracket
- All matches are Best of 3, except for the Grand Final
The International 2026 Teams
- Aurora Gaming
- BoomBoys* [BetBoom]
- Team Falcons
- Team Liquid
- Iron Wing* [1win]
- Xtreme Gaming
- Team Yandex
- Team Spirit
- Team Vision* [Parivision]
- Nigma Galaxy
- HULIGANI* [L1GA TEAM]
- Team Resilience
- Vici Gaming
- OG
- GamerLegion
- LGD
* These team names have been altered due to Valve restrictions on betting site team names for The International.
The International 2026 Prize Pool
The International 2026 has a base prize pool of $1,600,000, with an additional 30% of all suppeter bundle sales contributing to the total prize pool.
As of the time of writing, the total prize pool sits at $2,877,056.
The International 2026 Location
The International 2026 will be played in Shanghai, with the Playoffs taking place in the Oriental Sports Center in the city.
The venue boasts a maximum capacity of 14,000-18,000 depending on its configuration.
How to watch The International 2026
The International will be broadcast on Dota 2’s dedicated The International channels on YouTube and Twitch. Additionally, players can watch through the Dota 2 client itself using Valve’s Steam.tv.
The International 2026 Predictions
There’s no shortage of heavy hitters to choose from at The International 2026 between the seven invited teams and the nine qualified rosters.
Going into TI 15, the most in-form team is Parivision, playing as Team Vision. The roster’s EWC triumph backed up months of growth, which has seen Dota 2 legend Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov grow the roster as coach.
Following the addition of Evgeniy ‘Noticed’ Ignatenko, everything is clicking for the roster coming into TI, making them the team to beat.
Yandex, 1win (playing as Iron Wing), Aurora, Falcons, and Liquid are all strong contenders, with Liquid winning the pre-tournament 1win Essence II tournament.
However, Europe’s elite will be wary of the home advantage of the Chinese rosters, with Xtreme Gaming looking to go one step further than at The International 2025, where they finished runners-up to Falcons.
Vici Gaming will want a return to TI as legendary as their organizational history, but it was Team Resilience who won the Chinese qualifier, potentially making them the surprise package at TI 2026.
Sadly, after a strong start under the Chinese org’s umbrella, LGD’s chances of creating a positive surprise at TI are all but gone following the news that Santiago ‘TaiLung’ Agüero Gustavo has been permanently banned from TI and PGL events due to integrity issues.
Retired Finnish legend, Topias ‘Topson’ Taavitsainen will be the starting Pos 2 player for LGD after the controversial and bitter end to Tailung’s young career.
Predicted winner: Team Vision
Who do you think will win The International 2026? Let us know on our Discord Server.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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