The TI 2026 teams heading to Shanghai: invites and qualifiers
TI 2026 teams arrive two ways: seven direct invites announced in late May, plus nine sides from the regional qualifiers. The invited group is Aurora Gaming, BoomBoys, Team Falcons, Team Liquid, Tundra Esports, Xtreme Gaming and Team Yandex, with the qualifier field still filling in.
The TI 2026 teams confirmed by direct invite
Seven rosters skipped the qualifiers entirely. Valve named them in late May based on season form, and the list reads Aurora Gaming, BoomBoys, Team Falcons, Team Liquid, Tundra Esports, Xtreme Gaming and Team Yandex. Six are European-region sides and Xtreme Gaming is the Chinese invite, which tells you where the organiser saw the strongest year-long results.
One caveat worth flagging: the invited Tundra roster appears under a rebranded name on some trackers, so if you see a different tag attached to that lineup, it is the same group of players. We name the side as the invited Tundra roster to avoid confusion. Everything else on the invite list is settled.
How the rest of the The International 2026 teams qualify
The remaining nine places come through five regional qualifiers, split four to Europe, two to China, and one each to Southeast Asia, North America and South America. Two of those routes are already done: LGD Gaming won South America, and Vici Gaming took a Chinese slot, with a second Chinese team reported but not yet unanimously confirmed. The qualified Dota 2 TI teams join the invites to complete the sixteen-side field.
That mix of invites and qualifiers is what makes the field interesting. Established names arrive rested while hungry qualifier sides carry momentum, and the gap between them often narrows once the Swiss stage begins. The full route-by-route picture lives on our qualifier breakdown, and the way these sides will populate the tables is covered on the standings tracker.
| Invited team | Region |
|---|---|
| Aurora Gaming | Europe |
| BoomBoys | Europe |
| Team Falcons | Europe |
| Team Liquid | Europe |
| Tundra Esports | Europe |
| Team Yandex | Europe |
| Xtreme Gaming | China |
Reading the TI 2026 roster picture after the post-TI shuffle
Every year the off-season reshuffles lineups, and this cycle was no exception. The post-TI shuffle moves players between organisations, so a familiar team name can field unfamiliar faces by the time Shanghai arrives. When you scan a TI 2026 roster, check who is actually on it rather than assuming last year's five.
That churn matters for anyone weighing the field. A side that looked dominant a year ago may have lost a key core player in the post-TI 2026 shuffle, while a qualifier team might have picked up a veteran who lifts its ceiling. For how this feeds betting markets, our predictions guide explains why settled rosters firm up the odds.
- Direct invites: seven sides, announced late May 2026.
- Qualifier slots: nine, across five regions.
- Concluded routes: South America (LGD Gaming), China (Vici Gaming + reported second).
- Roster watch: verify lineups after the off-season shuffle.
The TI 2026 invites give the field its anchors, but the qualifier sides are where the upsets usually brew. Once all sixteen are locked, you can line the names up against the match calendar and start forming a sensible read on who travels to Shanghai with real title hopes. The TI 2026 direct invites are confirmed; the rest is still being earned.