Natus Vincere kept their road to Shanghai open on June 26 with a clean 2-0 sweep of MOUZ in the lower bracket of the TI 2026 Europe Closed Qualifier. The victory means NaVi, one of the most storied organizations in competitive gaming, remains in contention for one of four available slots at The International 2026 main event.
What makes this particular qualifier run interesting beyond the Dota 2 community is the financial infrastructure growing around it. Polymarket hosted active prediction markets on the NaVi vs. MOUZ matchup, with trading volumes reaching into the tens of thousands of dollars. Crypto sportsbooks like Stake and BC.GAME accepted Bitcoin wagers on the qualifying matches in real time.
NaVi’s path through the lower bracket
The Europe Closed Qualifier features 16 teams battling through a bracket format, with only four earning tickets to the main event. NaVi entered the lower bracket after an earlier loss but has been quietly building momentum with a string of convincing results.
Before dispatching MOUZ, NaVi had already posted a 2-0 win over MODUS on June 21 and followed that with another victory against Nigma Galaxy. Three consecutive 2-0 series in elimination territory is the kind of consistency that separates teams making deep runs from those heading home early.
