The International 2026: closed qualifier results in China, Southeast Asia and the Americas

The closed qualifiers for China, Southeast Asia and South America at The International 2026 have come to an end, and we are taking a look at the results.

China

Vici Gaming and Yakult Brothers were considered the top favorites in the Chinese region, but Team Resilience was the first to unexpectedly secure a spot at TI. None of the players on the roster, except for Lin planet Hao, had qualified for a Tier 1 tournament this year.

The second slot for The International went to Vici Gaming. In the decisive game of the series against Yakult Brothers, the team managed to come back from a 60,000 gold disadvantage. The map lasted 92 minutes.

According to analyst Ben Noxville Steenhuisen, the match became the second-largest comeback in professional Dota 2 history by cumulative net worth deficit over time.

During the game, Vici trailed their opponents by approximately 60,000 gold at the 78-minute mark but still managed to secure the victory. By this metric, the match is surpassed only by the legendary Cloud9 versus SFZ series at StarLadder StarSeries Season 12 in 2015.

In addition, the map became one of the longest games of the recent patches, ranking seventh among all matches played on versions 7.40 and 7.41. Over the course of 92 minutes, the teams purchased four Divine Rapiers, while Vici secured the win despite recording one of the lowest map control ratings among all victorious teams in the current meta.

As a reminder, Yakult Brothers, which missed both chances to qualify for TI15, started the first qualifying series with a substitute. According to rumors, Jiang Tianming An was hospitalized with appendicitis but fled the hospital immediately after surgery to finish the qualifiers.

South America

Despite being signed by a Chinese organization, LGD Gaming still competed in the South American region and proved to be the strongest team, securing the region's only slot and outperforming other favorites such as PlayTime, Team Nemesis and Amaru Flame.

LGD successfully advanced through the upper bracket and completed the qualifier while dropping only a single map. In the grand final, the team defeated PlayTime 3:0.

The standout player of the qualifiers was seventeen-year-old midlaner Santiago TaiLung Olivos, for whom this will be the first The International of his career.

The team will also compete at Esports World Cup 2026 on July 7 after securing a slot through the European qualifier.

Southeast Asia

The sole slot for Southeast Asia went to OG, which advanced through the qualifiers without much difficulty. As a reminder, the team replaced its offlaner ahead of the qualifiers: Alexander TORONTOTOKYO Hertek left the team, and his spot was taken by Marc Polo Raven Luis Fausto.

The last time OG qualified for TI was in 2022. Back then, the team finished in 7th–8th place. The squad has also already secured a direct invite to the Esports World Cup 2026, thanks to the EPT points they earned throughout the season.

North America

Only four teams competed in the North American closed qualifier: GamerLegion and three squads that advanced through the open qualifiers.

Even before the closed qualifier began, nearly every analyst considered GamerLegion the overwhelming favorite, and those predictions proved to be correct. The team secured a slot at TI15 without dropping a single series.

Many members of the community suggested merging North and South America into a single region and awarding two qualification spots for the championship.

Among them were LGD Gaming coach Igor Kaffs Furtado and Team Nemesis coach Filipe Astini Astini, who criticized Valve's slot distribution for the year's biggest tournament.

The International 2026 will take place from 13.08.2026 to 23.08.2026 in Shanghai, China. The tournament will feature a starting prize pool of $1,600,000. Nine teams from regional qualifiers will join the seven directly invited participants. The closed qualifiers will be held from 15.06.2026 to 28.06.2026.

As CyberScore previously reported, Noxville ran a million simulations of The International 2026 and identified the statistical favorites.