First Six Teams Announced for ESL One Birmingham 2026

Direct invitations to the tournament were extended to  Tundra Esports ,  Xtreme Gaming ,  PARIVISION ,  OG ,  Team Spirit , and  Team Yandex . These teams secured their spots in the championship due to their high rankings in the ESL Pro Tour and will not participate in the qualifiers.

The remaining slots for ESL One Birmingham 2026 will be contested through open qualifiers. In most regions, the qualifiers will take place from January 16 to 20, while the qualifiers for China will be held from January 30 to February 1 as part of the ESL Challenger China .

ESL One Birmingham 2026 will run from March 22 to 29. The tournament's prize pool will be $1,000,000, and the main stage of the championship will feature 16 teams.