Esports World Cup Foundation adds Dota 2 to Esports Nations Cup

ENC locks Dota 2 for 2026, going national-team style with strict qualifiers and a packed bracket.

Game lineup expansion

• Dota 2 joins the ENC debut slate.
• Mobile Legends Bang Bang came first.
• Trackmania filled the second slot.

Event setup and location

• Matches run November 2 through November 8, 2026.
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hosts the tournament.
• The field caps at 32 national teams.

National team rules

• Rosters pull top players by nationality.
• Five players per country make the cut.
• No single pro team can fully stack a roster.

How teams qualify

• Sixteen nations earn direct invites.
• Rankings pull from top-tier events starting June 8, 2025.
• Fourteen teams fight through regional qualifiers.
• Two wildcard slots finish the grid.

Competition format

• Group play starts with round-robin matches.
• Single-elimination decides the champion.
• The goal is one national winner.

Why Dota 2 fits right now

• The competitive scene keeps expanding globally.
• BLAST and PGL locked multi-year commitments.
• ENC adds a country-first angle to the ecosystem.