Preview of The International 2026: Format, Rosters, Prize Pool, and Schedule for the First Day of Play
Tomorrow, August 13, the biggest tournament of the year—The International 2026—kicks off. Read on for details on the tournament format, team rosters, and the schedule for the first day of competition.
Format
All participants in The International 2026 are placed in a single group. They will compete in a Swiss system, with matches played in a best-of-three format. In rounds following the first, opponents are determined based on current win-loss records. The top three teams will advance to the playoffs, while the other three will be eliminated from the tournament.
The remaining ten teams will compete in a single-elimination round; half will join the playoff bracket, while the rest will be eliminated from the tournament. The playoffs will consist of a two-tier bracket with best-of-three series, and the grand final will be a best-of-five series.
Team Rosters
Team Yandex
- Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov
- Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov
- Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin
- Martin “Saksa” Sazdov
- Arman “Malady” Orazbaev
- Alexander “Accell” Litvinenko (coach)
Team Falcons
- Oliver “Skiter” Lepko
- Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak
- Ammar “ATF” al-Assaf
- Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen
- Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu
- Curtis “Aui_2000” Ling (coach)
LGD Gaming
- Yuma “Yuma” Langle
- Topias “Topson” Taavit-Sainnen (replacing TaiLung, who was suspended by PGL)
- Adrian “Wisper” Cespedes Dobles
- Tiago “Thiolicor” de Oliveira Cordeiro
- Mateusz “KJ” Santos Jungles Diniz
- Igor “kaffs” Furtado (coach)
Team Spirit
- Ilya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk
- Denis “Larl” Sigitov
- Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
- Alexey “not me” Kosmyinin
- Ivan “rue” Filin
- Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov (coach)
- Milan “MiLAN” Kozomara (coach)
- Damien “kpii” Chok (coach)
Nigma Galaxy
- Sayed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan
- Artem “lorenof” Melnik
- Cédric “Davai” Dekmin
- Omar “OmaR” Mugrabi
- Maroon “GH” Merhej
- Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Tahasomi (coach)
BoomBoys (BetBoom Team)
- Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov
- Danil “gpk” Skutin
- Matvey “MieRo” Vasyunin
- Vitaly “Save-” Melnik
- Vladislav “Kataomi” Semyonov
Aurora Gaming
- Yegor “Nightfall” Grigorenko
- Rafli “Mikoto” Fathur Rahman
- Chun “Ws” Weishen
- Miroslav “Mira” Kolpakov
- Oleg “kaori” Medvedok
- Anatoly “boolk” Ivanov (coach)
Iron Wing (1w Team)
- Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko
- Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov
- Neta “33” Shapira
- Matthew “Ari” Walker
- Matthew “Whitemon” Philemon
- David “MoonMeander” Tan (coach)
Team Liquid
- Michael “m1CKe” Wu
- Michal “Nisha” Jankowski
- Marcus “Ace” Christensen
- Samuel “Boxi” Svan
- Eric “tOfu” Engel
- William “Blitz” Lee (coach)
Xtreme Gaming
- Wang “Ame” Chun-yu
- Cheng “NothingToSay” Jinxiang
- Lin “Xxs” Jing
- Xu “fy” Linsen
- Ye “xNova” Jianwei
- Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng (head coach)
- Wang “Maps” Yutian (assistant coach)
TEAM VISION (PARIVISION)
- Alan “Satanic” Galliamov
- Vladimir “No[o]ne-” Minenko
- Evgeny “Noticed” Ignatenko
- Edgar “9Class” Naltakyan
- Andrey “Dukalis” Kuropatkin
- Klement “Puppey” Ivanov (coach)
HULIGANI (L1GA TEAM)
- Ilya “ssnovv1” Kondrashov
- Miras “Mirage`” Mutanov
- Ivan “Vazya” German
- Oleg “sayuw” Kalenbet
- Yegor “RESPECT” Prokurat
- Alexey “TheChosenOne” Karanevich (coach)
Team Resilience
- Yan “YSR-04E” Shaohan
- Xu “Echozz” Ziliang
- Li “niu” Kunbo
- Lin “planet” Hao
- Zhang “zzq” Ziqian
- Se “Super” Junhao (coach)
Vici Gaming
- Guo “shiro” Xuan’an
- Ge “Xm” Hongcheng
- Zhang “Bach” Zhuidi
- Zhao “XinQ” Zixing
- Zhang “y`” Yiping
- Yao “Yao” Zhengzheng (coach)
OG
- John Anthony “Natsumi” Vargas
- Erin Jasper “Yopaj-” Ferrer
- Mark Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto
- Timothy John “TIMS” Randrup
- Rolen Andrei Gabriel “skem” Ong
- Adam “343” Shah (coach)
GamerLegion
- Daniel Chan “Ghost” Kok Hung
- Francis “RCY” Fundemera
- Victor “Fayde” Zuev
- Daniil “Bignum” Shekhovtsov
- Paul “Speeed” Boccicchio
- Andrey-Vlad “Mangusu” Satyanu (coach)
Prize Pool
The initial prize pool is traditionally $1.6 million. This year, it is being funded solely through sales of support packs for participating teams and lighting crew members—with 30% of the amount spent from each purchase going toward the prize pool. One day before the start of TI 2026, the prize pool has nearly surpassed last year’s total and stands at $2.87 million. The distribution is as follows:
- 1st place — $1,220,830 (42.5%);
- 2nd place — $373,483 (13%);
- 3rd place — $258,493 (9%);
- 4th place — $172,368 (6%);
- 5th–6th place — $143,620 each (5%);
- 7th–8th place — $114,873 each (4%);
- 9th–13th place — $51,652 each (1.8%);
- 14th–15th place — $28,747 each (1%);
- 16th place — $14,374 (0.5%).
Schedule for Day 1
August 13, Moscow time.
- 5:00 a.m. — Team Falcons vs. LGD Gaming;
- 5:00 a.m. — Iron Wing (1w Team) vs. Nigma Galaxy;
- 5:00 a.m. — BoomBoys (BetBoom Team) vs. OG;
- 5:00 a.m. — TEAM VISION (PARIVISION) vs. Team Resilience;
- 8:00 a.m. — Team Spirit vs. Xtreme Gaming;
- 8:00 a.m. — Team Liquid vs. Vici Gaming;
- 8:00 a.m. — Aurora Gaming vs. GamerLegion;
- 8:00 a.m. — Team Yandex vs. HULIGANI (L1GA TEAM).
At this time, the organizers have only listed these matches in the schedule.
Where to Watch The International 2026
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Broadcasts in Russian:
- Twitch: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C, Stream D;
- Steam: all streams;
- YouTube: all streams.
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English-language streams:
- Twitch: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C, Stream D;
- Steam: all streams;
- YouTube: all streams.
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Streams in Spanish:
- Twitch: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C, Stream D;
- Steam: all streams;
- YouTube: all streams.
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Streams in Chinese:
- Twitch: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C, Stream D;
- Steam: all streams;
- YouTube: all streams.
The International 2026 will take place from August 13 to 23; this year, Shanghai will host the main tournament for the second time in history. The reigning champion is Team Falcons, which defeated Xtreme Gaming 3–2 in Hamburg.
Photo: Valve.
