The group stage of The International 2026 will be held in a Swiss system format and will last four days—from August 13 to 16. The results of this stage will determine the eight teams that will advance to the playoffs to compete for the championship title.
The tournament’s main event is scheduled for August 20–23 and will take place in Shanghai.
The organizers have already released the match schedule for the first day of play. Due to the time difference with China, Ukrainian and other European fans will have to watch most of the matches in the morning. The first matches on August 13 will begin at 5:00 a.m. Kyiv time.
The International 2026 will be the 15th championship in Dota 2 history. This year, Shanghai will once again host the season’s flagship tournament, where 16 teams will compete for the Aegis of Champions and a prize pool of $2,871,232.
The schedule for upcoming matches is not yet final: matchups will be determined based on the results of previous matches in the Swiss stage. Therefore, the final tournament bracket will take shape as the competition progresses.
Match Schedule for August 13 (Kyiv Time):
5:00 a.m.
Team Falcons — LGD Gaming
1win — Nigma Galaxy
BB Team — OG
PARIVSN — Team Resilience
08:00 a.m.
Team Spirit — Xtreme Gaming
Team Liquid — Vici Gaming
Aurora Gaming — Gamer Legion
Team Yndx — Huligani
For Ukrainian viewers, the tournament will be broadcast by Maincast.