32 national teams from around the world will participate in the Dota 2 eSports Nations Cup.

The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has officially announced that Dota 2 will be the third official game in the 2026 Esports Nations Cup (ENC 2026).

The National Esports Cup is a brand-new international esports tournament pitting nations against each other, planned to be held every two years. The inaugural event will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November 2026. The tournament is seen as an alternative to the previously suspended esports Olympics, aiming to bring together the world's top esports talent.

The Dota 2 tournament will be held from November 2nd to 8th, 2026, with 32 national teams participating, each consisting of five top players from their respective countries. The tournament format is as follows:

• Group Stage: 32 teams are divided into 4 groups and play a single round-robin tournament to determine the top 16 teams.

• Elimination Rounds: The 16 qualifying teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament, with all matches except the finals being best-of-three.

• Grand Finals: The final two teams will compete for the championship in a best-of-five series.

Participating teams will be selected through the following three methods:

• Direct Invitation (16 slots): Based on the Dota 2 national team rankings. This ranking will include Tier 1 results from June 8, 2025 onwards. Points earned by clubs will be distributed equally among their players and added to the national team rankings.

• Regional Qualifiers (14 slots): Double-elimination qualifiers will be held from June 16 to July 5, 2026, in eight regions including North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Africa and Asia.

Two teams were selected from the wildcard slots.

With the selection criteria announced, the performance of Dota 2 professional tournaments in the coming year will directly determine which countries qualify for Riyadh.

Image source: Internet