The International is Valve's official Dota 2 world championship and the sport's most prestigious title. TI 2026 — the 15th edition — runs 13–23 August 2026 in Shanghai, with 16 teams chasing the Aegis of Champions. Here is the full schedule, prize pool, bracket and live results, plus how to bet on it at me88 Malaysia.
Dota 2's official annual world championship, run by developer Valve — the single biggest date on the competitive Dota calendar.
The International (TI) is the world championship of Dota 2, organised directly by the game's developer, Valve. First held in 2011 at gamescom in Cologne with a then-unheard-of US$1.6 million prize pool, it has grown into the most prestigious event in the sport. Winning TI — and lifting the physical Aegis of Champions — is the achievement every professional Dota 2 player measures a career against.
Unlike a multi-title festival such as the Esports World Cup, The International is a single-game championship: one bracket, one trophy, the best Dota 2 teams on Earth. The 2026 edition is TI 2026 (TI15), the 15th anniversary event, and it returns to China — staged in Shanghai from 13 to 23 August 2026, with the main event held at the Oriental Sports Center. Sixteen teams qualify through direct invites and regional qualifiers, then fight through a Swiss group stage into a double-elimination playoff bracket.
This hub covers the essentials — schedule, qualifiers, prize pool, bracket format and results — and then shows you how to bet on TI at me88. For everyday Dota 2 odds outside of TI, see our Dota 2 betting markets guide.
From June's open qualifiers to the August finals in Shanghai, here is the complete TI 2026 timeline.
| Stage | Dates (2026) | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Open Qualifiers | 9–12 June | Region-by-region open bracket feeding the regional qualifiers |
| Regional Qualifiers | 15–28 June | Six regions decide the qualified teams that join the direct invites |
| Group Stage — "Road to The International" | 13–16 August | Swiss-format group stage in Shanghai; the field is cut to eight main-event teams |
| Main Event (Playoffs) | 20–23 August | Double-elimination bracket at the Oriental Sports Center |
| Grand Final | 23 August | Best-of-five for the Aegis of Champions |
Shanghai returns as host. The city last staged The International in 2019, when OG beat Team Liquid to become the first team to win back-to-back TIs. Full details are confirmed in Valve's official TI 2026 announcement.
How the 16-team field is decided — from open brackets to regional deciders.
The 16 teams that contest The International 2026 are drawn from two paths: direct invitations and the qualifiers. Valve extends direct invites to a set of the season's strongest teams, while the remaining slots are filled through a two-tier open competition.
Because regional strength shifts season to season, qualifier results are worth tracking closely: a team that grinds through the open bracket can arrive at TI in form and reshape the outright market. Roster changes locked in before the qualifiers often move odds more than any single result.
A US$1.6M base that grows through in-game supporter content — and a history that includes the biggest prize pool in esports.
The International 2026 starts from a US$1.6 million base prize pool put up by Valve. As in previous years, that figure grows through in-game supporter content that players buy during the event, with a share of sales added to the pot. For TI 2026 the total is expected to climb to roughly US$2.8 million, with the winning team taking home at least US$1.2 million.
That is modest by TI's own historic standards. During the crowdfunded "Battle Pass" era, TI prize pools were the largest in all of esports — peaking at TI10 in 2021 with over US$40 million, still the biggest single-tournament prize pool the industry has ever seen. Valve has since scaled the crowdfunding model back, which is why recent editions sit in the low single-digit millions rather than the tens of millions.
| Edition | Prize Pool | Note |
|---|---|---|
| TI10 (2021) | US$40M+ | Record — largest prize pool in esports history |
| TI 2024 | ~US$2.6M | Post-crowdfunding model |
| TI 2025 | ~US$2.88M | Hamburg |
| TI 2026 | ~US$2.8M | US$1.6M base; winner ≥ US$1.2M |
Swiss group stage into a double-elimination bracket — and why the lower bracket is the stuff of TI legend.
TI 2026 runs in two phases. First comes the Swiss-format group stage (13–16 August), where all 16 teams play a series of matches against opponents on the same record. Win and you move up; lose and you drop, until the field is trimmed to the eight teams that advance to the main event. Swiss avoids easy groups — every team faces a comparable schedule.
The main event (20–23 August) is a double-elimination bracket split into an upper and a lower bracket:
That structure is why TI is famous for lower-bracket runs — deep, high-pressure comebacks where a beaten team claws all the way back to the Grand Final. For bettors it matters directly: main-event series are best-of-three, while the Grand Final is best-of-five, so map handicaps and total-maps markets behave differently in the final than earlier rounds.
TI 2026 is live (13–23 August). Results are updated here as each stage concludes; recent champions are listed below.
| TI 2026 Stage | Result |
|---|---|
| Group Stage (13–16 Aug) | {{TI_2026_RESULTS_PENDING}} |
| Main Event / Playoffs (20–23 Aug) | {{TI_2026_RESULTS_PENDING}} |
| Grand Final (23 Aug) | {{TI_2026_RESULTS_PENDING}} |
| Edition | Champion | Host City |
|---|---|---|
| TI 2025 | Team Falcons | Hamburg — def. Xtreme Gaming |
| TI 2024 | Team Liquid | Copenhagen |
| TI 2023 | Team Spirit | Seattle |
| TI10 (2021) | Team Spirit | Bucharest |
| TI 2019 | OG | Shanghai — first two-time champions |
The markets that matter for TI, plus a few practical notes before you stake.
Back the winner of a best-of series — the core TI market.
Target a single map, or give a favourite a map deficit for better value.
Over/under on how many maps a series lasts (e.g. over 2.5 in a Bo3).
Which team scores the first kill of the map.
Bet on the kill spread within a map rather than the map result.
Back a team to win the whole event and lift the Aegis.
me88 covers The International through its esports sportsbook partners, with pre-match and live in-play odds. A few things worth keeping in mind for TI specifically:
For everyday Dota 2 odds and a full breakdown of every market outside of TI, see our Dota 2 betting markets guide.
Betting on The International is for adults aged 18 and over. Esports audiences skew young — never bet more than you can afford to lose, set deposit and time limits, and treat betting as entertainment, not income. me88 provides deposit limits, self-exclusion tools and a responsible gaming policy. If gambling stops being fun, take a break or seek support.