TI Qualifiers 2026: The Five Regional Roads to Shanghai
The TI qualifiers 2026 fill nine of the sixteen Shanghai spots, alongside seven direct invites. Slots are split across Europe, China, Southeast Asia, North America and South America. For Philippine fans the SEA route is the one to watch, and several regions are still being decided at the time of writing.
The field for The International 2026 is built from two sources: seven direct invitations handed to the strongest rosters, and nine places won through regional qualifiers. That split is why the qualifier season carries real stakes — for most teams, the TI qualifiers 2026 are the only path to Shanghai. A single bracket run can define a club's entire year, and the main event overview explains how these slots feed the sixteen-team field.
How the TI qualifiers 2026 are structured
The nine qualifier slots are distributed unevenly to reflect regional depth. Europe receives four places, China two, and Southeast Asia, North America and South America one each. Open qualifiers ran from 9 to 12 June, feeding into regional brackets that play on staggered windows through late June. The TI qualifiers, in other words, are not a single event but a rolling series of regional fights.
That structure rewards consistency over a hot streak. To survive the TI qualifier gauntlet a roster usually has to win an open bracket and then beat established names in the regional stage. The road to The International 2026 is genuinely brutal, which is part of why qualifying at all is treated as an achievement worth celebrating.
- Europe: 4 slots — the deepest regional field
- China: 2 slots
- Southeast Asia: 1 slot — the route PH fans watch
- North America: 1 slot
- South America: 1 slot
| Region | Slots | Status at time of writing |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 4 | In progress — no qualifiers locked |
| China | 2 | Concluded — Vici Gaming, plus a reportedly confirmed second team |
| Southeast Asia | 1 | In progress — winner not yet decided |
| North America | 1 | Not yet concluded |
| South America | 1 | Concluded — LGD Gaming |
The SEA route: TI SEA qualifiers for a PH audience
For anyone reading from the Philippines, the TI SEA qualifiers are the headline. Southeast Asia holds a single Shanghai slot, and roughly ten teams have been contesting it in a window around late June. The bracket has featured rosters with Filipino interest — sides such as OG and InterActive Philippines have appeared in contention — but at the time of writing the SEA winner has not been determined, so we will not crown anyone prematurely.
The pressure on the TI qualifiers 2026 SEA bracket is intense precisely because there is only one ticket. A region with this much talent fighting over a lone slot guarantees heartbreak for strong teams, and the margins are tiny. The international has a long history of the SEA qualifier producing a dangerous, motivated side, and 2026 looks set to continue that pattern once the dust settles.
We are deliberately not listing a SEA qualifier as locked in. The Southeast Asian bracket was still live at the time of writing, and naming a winner before the games finish would be guesswork. This page updates with the confirmed team the moment the result is official.
Closed and open brackets: how the stages connect
Each region layers an open phase into a closed phase. The TI open qualifiers 2026 gave unsigned and lower-ranked teams a genuine entry point from 9 to 12 June, and the survivors advanced into the regional brackets. The TI closed qualifiers 2026 then pit those qualifiers against the established regional names for the actual Shanghai slots.
For Southeast Asia specifically, the The International 2026 SEA closed qualifier is the decisive stage, and it is the one PH fans should track most closely. A team that grinds through the open bracket and then topples a regional heavyweight in the closed stage earns one of the most hard-fought tickets in the whole event. That is a story worth following from the first match to the last.
It helps to picture the TI qualifiers 2026 SEA path as two gates in a row. The first gate is the open bracket, where anyone can enter; the second is the closed stage against the region's best. Survive both and you have done something remarkable, because the The International 2026 SEA closed qualifier has historically been one of the toughest single-slot fights in all of Dota. That is exactly why a SEA qualifier so often arrives in the group stage with a chip on its shoulder.
Which regions have already booked Shanghai
Two regions have concluded at the time of writing. South America's single slot went to LGD Gaming, and China's qualifier produced Vici Gaming as one of its two representatives, with a second Chinese team reported but not yet uniformly confirmed across sources. Europe, North America and Southeast Asia were all still being contested, so their seats remain open. As more of The International 2026 qualifiers wrap up, this page tracks the confirmed names region by region.
Cross-reference the qualified sides with our teams and roster page to see how they fit alongside the direct invites, and use the standings tracker to follow them once the group stage begins. The qualifier story and the group-stage story feed directly into one another. Read them side by side and the Shanghai field stops being a list of names and starts being a narrative.
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Back your qualifierFrequently asked questions
How many teams reach Shanghai through the TI qualifiers 2026?
Nine teams qualify through the regional qualifiers, joining seven direct invites for a sixteen-team field. Europe gets four slots, China two, and SEA, North America and South America one each.
Has the SEA route for The International 2026 finished?
Not at the time of writing. The Southeast Asian closed qualifier was still being played, with around ten teams chasing a single slot. We will not name a qualifier until the bracket is officially decided.
Which regions have already concluded their qualifiers?
South America has concluded, with LGD Gaming taking its slot, and China has concluded with Vici Gaming confirmed plus a reportedly confirmed second team. Europe, North America and SEA were still in progress.
What is the difference between open and closed qualifiers?
The TI open qualifiers 2026, played 9–12 June, let lower-ranked teams earn a path forward. The closed qualifiers then pit those survivors against established regional names for the actual Shanghai slots.
Are any Filipino teams in contention for TI 2026?
Rosters with Filipino interest have appeared in the SEA bracket, including sides such as OG and InterActive Philippines. We list them only as in contention, never as qualified, until results are final.
When do the remaining qualifiers finish?
Regional qualifiers run on staggered windows through late June 2026. The European, North American and Southeast Asian brackets were still active at the time of writing, with results pending.