Team Spirit became three-time champions at The International 2026: format, schedule, results and tournament bracket

The first round of the group stage went off without any major upsets. The favorites won all eight series. However, some players surprised everyone with their hero picks: Larl played his first professional match as Io, and CHIRA_JUNIOR played as Slark.

The first matches of the second round also took place today. BoomBoys and Team Vision remained undefeated, while Team Resilience and OG failed to win a single series.

It’s worth noting that players set several records on the very first day. BoomBoys pulled off the biggest comeback in The International history, making up about 35,000 gold on the third map against Iron Wing. Satanic set a record for the most last hits (1,361) and damage dealt (130,000) as Shadow Fiend, and also came close to a record number of kills in TI history. He scored 29 kills but couldn't surpass Sumail’s record (31 kills as Tiny).

The second day of The International 2026 has come to an end, and it’s time to summarize the results.

Only Team Vision and Team Spirit remained undefeated at the end of the second day. Tomorrow, these teams will face off in a match to secure a spot in the playoffs. Meanwhile, OG and Huligani are one step away from elimination. Also today, two of the top favorites — Team Falcons and Team Yandex — lost both of their matches. At the same time, Nigma Galaxy and Vici Gaming significantly improved their standing by winning both of their series.

Team Spirit’s matches deserve special mention, as they were packed with highlights today. Larl committed a rampage as Earth Spirit at the 12-minute mark of the second map in their match against Aurora Gaming. not me pulled off an incredible snatch of the Aegis of the Immortal using a stolen Sleight of Fist from Ember Spirit while playing Rubick on the second map of the series against Team Liquid. Yatoro surpassed Satanic’s kill score from yesterday on Shadow Fiend (29) by racking up 31 kills on Kez in the first map of the match against Team Liquid, tying the TI record set by Sumail (31 kills on Tiny). The Team Spirit carry also finished this game with a rampage, his 35th of his career. He is second only to Miracle- (49) in this regard.

In addition, several new records were set. Satanic set a The International record for experience per minute (1,337) while playing Templar Assassin on the first map of the series against BoomBoys. And yesterday’s BB record for the biggest comeback in TI history has already been broken by Iron Wing, who made up over 40,000 gold on the first map against Team Falcons.

The group stage of The International 2026 has come to an end, and we are summing up its results.

Team Vision defeated Team Spirit 2:0 and advanced to the playoffs, delighting their fans with a successful 4–0 prediction in the Compendium.

They were joined in the next stage by Team Liquid and Nigma Galaxy, who also defeated the “Dragons” 2:0.

Iron Wing, Team Falcons, and Aurora Gaming won their matches and finished the first stage with three wins. Tomorrow, they will play series for a place in the playoffs.

The worst-performing teams at the championship were OG, Hulligani, and, surprisingly, Xtreme Gaming, who each lost four series. All three teams were the first to be eliminated from the tournament.

It is worth noting that Nigma midlaner Artem Lorenof Melnyk holds the tournament record for gold per minute, reaching 1,100 in a game on Nature's Prophet. Team Vision carry Alan Satanic Galyamov ranks second in this statistic, having achieved a top result on three different heroes.

In the opening matches of the day, BoomBoys defeated Aurora Gaming in a CIS derby and advanced to the next stage. Meanwhile, Team Falcons comfortably defeated Vici Gaming, eliminating them from the tournament. Shortly after, the head of the Chinese organization announced the disbandment of the roster.

In the following series, Team Spirit proved stronger than Team Resilience, while Iron Wing defeated GamerLegion.

The final series was played between Team Yandex and LGD Gaming, with Martin Saksa Sazdov's team securing a 2:1 victory. As a result, all Chinese teams were eliminated from the tournament before the playoffs even began.

It is worth noting that Topias Topson Taavitsainen played for LGD as a substitute, as their previous midlaner Santiago TaiLung Olivos Aguero had been suspended from the tournament and received a ban from all PGL tournaments.

After a three-day break, the main stage of The International will begin, with eight teams competing for the title of the world's best team.

The first day of the The International 2026 playoffs has come to an end, and it’s time to summarize the results.

The only predictable outcome among today’s series was the match between Team Vision and BoomBoys, though even here the favorites didn’t secure the victory without a struggle.

Team Spirit’s carry, Illya Yatoro Mulyarchuk, delivered an incredible performance as Lone Druid on the first map of the series against Iron Wing. Neta’s 33 Shapira’s team was unable to recover from a crushing defeat and offered no significant resistance in the second game, allowing Spirit to easily secure a spot in the upper bracket semifinals, where another tough matchup against Team Vision awaits.

It’s worth noting that Yatoro set a pro-scene record on Lone Druid, with 19,087 net worth farmed by the 25-minute mark, as well as The International 2026’s record for damage dealt to structures (36,688) — which is also his personal best — and also held the TI15 record for net worth at the 10-minute mark (6,348).

Team Yandex picked Io on both maps of their match against Team Liquid, first in a combo with Largo and then with Slark. Liquid’s attempt to counter this overpowered duo was unsuccessful — the squad, which had advanced through the group stage with great confidence, fell into the lower bracket in the very first round of the playoffs.

The matchup between Team Falcons and Nigma Galaxy also ended with an unexpected outcome. Although Falcons crushed Nigma in the first game, they suffered an equally crushing defeat on the second map. The decisive game was evenly matched, and its outcome was determined by a final teamfight, in which Nigma proved the stronger.

The second day of the play-offs at The International 2026 has come to an end, and it’s time to summarise the results.

In the first series, BoomBoys defeated Iron Wing 2–1, eliminating them from the tournament. Many analysts have highlighted the poor performance of Iron Wing’s mid-laner Bozhidar bzm Bogdanov, who managed just five kills across three maps, playing Lina twice and Dragon Knight once. Meanwhile, his mid-lane opponent, Danil gpk Skutin, finished every game with a positive KDA.

In the second series of the day, Team Falcons were unable to overcome Team Liquid. They were also eliminated from the tournament, despite securing a victory on the first map with a record gold advantage of nearly 90,000. It is worth noting that in every game, Liquid banned Huskar and Necrophos, which were regularly played by the Falcons’ offlaner Amar ATF al-Assaf. In a recent interview, support player Andreas Cr1t-Nielsen noted that this The International would be his last, and that the Falcons’ line-up is likely to change.

Team Vision remain undefeated. Today, the team knocked Team Spirit into the lower bracket, securing themselves a place in at least the top three of the tournament. On the first map, Vision surprised the “Dragons” with Slark from Vladimir No[o]ne- Minenko, completely shutting down Ember Spirit. In the second game, Spirit responded with an unexpected pick of Night Stalker for Denis Larl Sigitov against Puck, which allowed them to level the score. In the deciding match, both teams opted for their most comfortable heroes, and Vision proved to be stronger.

The second upper bracket finalist became Team Yandex, who defeated Nigma Galaxy in a hard-fought battle. It is worth noting that Earth Spirit appeared in the picks on all three maps of this series — before this encounter, the hero had been banned in every playoff match, with the exception of the second map in the Team Liquid vs Team Falcons match.

The penultimate day of The International 2026 has begun, and we are taking a look at the results so far.

In the opening match of the day, Team Spirit confidently defeated Team Liquid 2:0, eliminating them from the tournament.

Once again, the Dragons' carry Illya Yatoro Mulyarchuk set a new GPM record at the tournament. On the first map of the series, he reached 1,121 gold per minute while playing Nature's Prophet. The previous record belonged to BoomBoys carry Ilya Kiritych Ulyanov, who finished a game on Necrophos with 1,105 GPM.

The second elimination match was played between BoomBoys and Nigma Galaxy. The CIS team won the series 2:1 and advanced further, while their opponent was eliminated from the tournament, finishing in 5th-6th place.

It is worth noting that Nigma competed with an updated roster, featuring new midlaner Artem Lorenof Melnyk and Sumail SumaiL Hassan in the carry position.

Shortly before the tournament began, SumaiL also stated that this The International would be his last, hinting at a possible retirement from professional play.

In the upper bracket final, Team Vision defeated Team Yandex and advanced to the grand final. It will be the first TI grand final for every player on the team, while Vladimir No[o]ne Minenko has reached this stage for the first time in 12 years of professional play.

In the final match of the day, Team Spirit confidently defeated BoomBoys 2:0 and will face Team Yandex tomorrow in the lower bracket final. The first game lasted 35 minutes and the second 30, which is considered relatively fast, as the average game duration at the tournament exceeds 45 minutes.