Preview of The International 2026 - format of the main tournament of the year, participants and prize fund distribution

Tomorrow, August 13, The International 2026 starts in Shanghai. The format of the competition, the list of participants and the schedule of the first day are in our material.

The International 2026 will take place from August 13th to 23rd in Shanghai, China. Sixteen teams will compete at the main tournament of the year: seven of them received direct invitations, and the rest were determined based on the results of regional qualifications.

The group stage will last until August 16. Sixteen teams in the general group will play five rounds. The winners of the four series advance to the main stage, while the losers are eliminated. At the end of the stage, three teams guarantee themselves a place in the playoffs, and the other three will leave the event. The remaining ten teams will compete among themselves for the remaining five slots. All matches will be held in the best-of-3 format.

The playoffs with the lower bracket will be held from August 20 to 23 at the SPD Bank Vostok sports center. The grand final will be held in the best-of-5 format, the remaining matches will be best-of-3.

Aurora Gaming

BetBoom Team (BoomBoys)

1win Team (Iron Wing)

Team Falcons

Team Liquid

Team Yandex

Xtreme Gaming

Team Spirit

PARIVISION (TEAM VISION)

Nigma Galaxy

L1GA TEAM (HULIGANI)

Team Resilience

Vici Gaming

O.G.

GamerLegion

LGD Gaming

The starting prize pool for The International 2025 was $1,600,000. It is increased by 30% of sales of in-game content from the Compendium. At the time of publication, the total prize pool is $2,877,056 and is distributed as follows:

• 1st place — $1,222,719 (42.5% of the prize fund);
• 2nd place - $374,061 (13%);
• 3rd place - $258,893 (9%);
• 4th place - $172,634 (6%);
• 5th-6th place - $143,842 each (5% each);
• 7th-8th place - $115,051 each (4% each);
• 9-13th place - $51,732 (1.8% each);
• 14th-15th place - $28,792 (1% each);
• 16th place - $14,396 (0.5%).

• 05:00 - PARIVISION vs Team Resilience;
• 05:00 — Team Falcons vs. LGD Gaming;
• 05:00 — 1win Team vs. Nigma Galaxy;
• 05:00 - BetBoom Team vs OG;
• 08:00 - Team Spirit vs Xtreme Gaming;
• 08:00 — Team Liquid vs Vici Gaming;
• 08:00 - Aurora Gaming vs GamerLegion;
• 08:00 — Team Yandex vs L1GA TEAM.

• 11:00 - four series between the winners of the subgroup 0-0.

The International 2026 will take place from August 13th to 23rd. As part of the championship, the 16 best teams in the world are competing for a prize fund exceeding $2,870,000. You can follow the progress of the competition in our “Esports” section.