The grind is over, but the real battle starts now

After five intense regional closed qualifiers, the majority of squads bound for ESL One Birmingham 2026 are now locked in. Battles across Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Americas, and Southeast Asia from January 16–20 carved out a stacked lineup, setting the stage for a high-stakes Dota 2 LAN showdown. 

North America delivered one of the closest series, as GamerLegion edged past Rottweilas LATAM 3-2 in the Grand Final to secure qualification. In South America, Peru Rejects dominated the bracket, sweeping HEROIC 3-0 and conceding just a single map across the entire qualifier. 

Western Europe saw four teams advance to Birmingham. Team Falcons, The International 2025 champions, defeated Zero Tenacity and NAVI to continue their strong form. Nigma Galaxy also qualified after an impressive lower bracket run. From Eastern Europe, BetBoom Team remained unbeaten, while Aurora Gaming rebounded from an early loss to earn qualification through the lower bracket. 

Southeast Asia concluded with REKONIX claiming the region’s only slot. After dropping their opening match, the team ran the lower bracket and defeated Execration 3-1 in the Grand Final. With 15 of 16 teams confirmed, the final spot will be decided at ESL Challenger China.