LGD Gaming lost just one game throughout the entire qualifier to become South America’s sole representative in The International 2026.
LGD Gaming will be the sole representative for South America in The International (TI) 2026 after they completed a dominant run through the tournament’s South American qualifier with a 3-0 sweep over 
PlayTime in the qualifier’s best-of-five grand finals on Saturday (20 June).
LGD are the third team to secure a spot in TI 2026 through the regional qualifiers, joining Chinese qualifier winners Team Resilience and
Vici Gaming.
LGD left no doubt about how worthy they are to represent South America in this year’s Dota 2 world championship tournament, as they dropped just one game across the ten they played in the qualifier. Their sole loss notably came at the hands of PlayTime in a 2-1 victory the upper bracket finals.
LGD’s victory at the South American qualifier for TI 2026 comes at an opportune time for the renown Chinese organisation. After a two-year absence from the Dota 2 competitive scene, LGD returned in late May by signing the South American roster of ex-HEROIC, which featured 
Yuma “Yuma” Langlet, 
Santiago “TaiLung” Agüero Gustavo, 
Adrian “Wisper” Cespedes Dobles, 
Thiago “Thiolicor” Cordeiro, Matheus Santos Jungles “KJ” Diniz, and coach Igor “kaffs” Estevão.
LGD’s new South American roster notably showed a lot of promise in their first tournament under the Chinese organisation’s banner, finishing in second place at BLAST Slam VII to 
Team Yandex. With a strong showing in a tournament that featured teams that were directly-invited to TI 2026, LGD were pegged as the biggest favourites to win the tournament’s South American qualifier.
LGD qualify for TI 2026 with dominant run through the South American qualifier
LGD opened their campaign in TI 2026’s South American qualifier with a 2-0 sweep over Lindorfitos, a stack captained by Peruvian veteran
Steven “StingeR” Vargas Mamani. They then scored another 2-0 sweep over 
Amaru Gaming, besting a squad led by another Peruvian veteran in Hector Antonio “K1” Rodriguez.
LGD’s opening victories set up their first encounter with PlayTime of the South American qualifier in the upper bracket finals. While PlayTime won the first game of the series, LGD still emerged victorious in a 2-1 reverse sweep capped off by a 77-minute win in the decider. With their victory in the upper bracket finals, LGD advanced to the qualifier’s grand finals in prime position to secure a spot in TI 2026.
PlayTime then swept Amaru Gaming in the lower bracket finals to earn a rematch with LGD for the right to represent South America in this year’s Dota 2 world championship tournament.
LGD opened the grand finals with a 43-minute win behind Yuma’s Kez, who finished the series opener with 12 kills and four assists against one death. They then secured a commanding 2-0 series lead by routing PlayTime in 29 minutes of action behind Yuma’s Broodmother and Wisper’s Beastmaster, who combined for a clean 10 kills and 16 assists.
PlayTime looked to mount a comeback in game three, but despite their best efforts they could only extend the game to 58 minutes before ultimately conceding the 3-0 series sweep and the all-important spot in TI 2026 to LGD. LGD’s roster were firing on all cylinders to close out the grand finals, with TaiLung on Puck leading the way with 24 kills and 25 assists on four deaths. Wisper on Largo added 13 kills and 28 assists on four deaths while Yuma on Gyrocopter had 10 kills and 22 assists on five deaths.
What are The International 2026 qualifier regions, dates, and slots?
The International 2026 regional qualifiers cover North America, South America, China, Southeast Asia, and a newly unified European region, replacing the traditional split between Western and Eastern Europe.
Here are the dates and slots per region of TI 2026 Closed Qualifiers:
ChinaDates: 15 -18 JuneSlot(s): 2South AmericaDates: 15 – 19 JuneSlot(s): 1SEADates: 19 – 23 JuneSlot(s): 1EuropeDates: 21 – 28 JuneSlot(s): 4North AmericaDates: 24 – 26 JuneSlot(s): 1
The qualifier winners will join the directly invited teams–
Aurora Gaming, 
BetBoom Team, 
Team Falcons,
Team Liquid, 
1w Team, 
Xtreme Gaming, and Team Yandex–to complete the 16-team field.
The International 2026 will take place in Shanghai, China, from 13 to 23 August, with a current prize pool of US$1.6 million. The tournament’s final four days will be held live at the Oriental Sports Center, where the world’s best team will be crowned champions in this fifteenth edition of The International.
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