The International 2026 direct invites revealed, Tundra Esports and Ari invited

Craig Robinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 26/05/2026

Valve has confirmed the seven direct invites for The International 2026, alongside the full regional qualifier schedule and ticket sale information for the event taking place in Shanghai, China.

The International 2026 Teams

Valve have revealed the full team announcement for direct invites to this year’s invitational, with the teams as follows:

• Aurora Gaming
• BoomBoys
• Team Falcons
• Team Liquid
• Tundra Esports
• Xtreme Gaming
• Team Yandex

Notable among that list is Tundra Esports, a British esports organisation, which also features Matthew ‘Ari’ Walker, a British player on the roster. They were also invited to the 2025 International too, marking a repeat for the side, and they won Dota’s flagship tournament back in 2022.

That leaves nine slots still up for grabs through Regional Qualifiers, which run across all regions from June 15 to June 28.

This year Valve has made one notable structural change, merging the Eastern and Western Europe qualifiers into a single European qualifier with four advancement slots, the most of any region. The full breakdown is as follows:

China runs June 15 to 18 with two slots available. South America runs June 15 to 19 for one slot. Southeast Asia runs June 19 to 23 for one slot. Europe runs June 21 to 28 for four slots, featuring Team Spirit, Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro, MOUZ, Nigma Galaxy, Team Vision, and enjoy Power Rangers among the confirmed participants. North America runs June 24 to 26 for one slot, with GamerLegion among the confirmed teams.

Each regional qualifier also has open qualifier spots feeding in, giving additional teams a path to the main event.

The International 2026 format and dates

Once qualifiers conclude on June 28 the full sixteen-team field will be set. The Group Stage runs August 13 to 16 using a three-day, five-round Swiss bracket, followed by five elimination matches on the Sunday. The top eight teams then advance to the arena stage from August 20 to 23, where the Aegis of Champions will be awarded.

Ticket sales for the in-arena stage open on June 10 at 2:00 PM China Standard Time. The venue is the SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, with the live event running August 20 to 23.

Tickets are available as single-day passes for any of the four days, or as two-day bundles covering Thursday and Friday or Saturday and Sunday. All seating is assigned this year with no general admission option available.

There are two separate purchase routes depending on where you are buying from. Chinese domestic sales will go through Damai or the Perfect World app and require a Chinese ID. The first 20 minutes from 2:00 PM CST will be a priority purchase window restricted to active Dota players in China who have played at least ten games in the last six months. To be eligible for that priority window, account verification must be completed by June 3. From 2:30 PM CST onward, tickets will be available to all Chinese customers.

For international fans outside of China, sales open at 2:30 PM CST on June 10 via Trip.com.

Craig Robinson, Senior Editor

Craig began his career with Esports News UK back in 2015/2016, looking to write about a passion while studying at Manchester Metropolitan University. He stayed there for several years before moving on to other websites to begin his career after graduating. Now he's back, covering esports adjacent topics and UK stories.

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