Worlds 2026: Dates, Format and Qualified League of Legends Teams

The 2026 League of Legends World Championship will begin on October 15 and conclude with the final in Brooklyn on November 14. The tournament is built around the theme “THIS IS OUR MOMENT” and will bring together leading teams from leagues worldwide. Competition will be divided into the Play-In, Swiss and Knockout stages.

The Play-In Stage will take place in Los Angeles from October 15 to 18. Four teams will contest a best-of-five double-elimination bracket, with the matchups decided by a random draw after the CBLOL Finals on October 10. The Swiss Stage follows in Allen, Texas, from October 23 to 31, using best-of-one and best-of-three matches.

In the Swiss Stage, teams must reach three wins to advance, while three losses mean elimination. Round-one pairings will come from four draw tiers, with Tier 1 facing Tier 4 and Tier 2 facing Tier 3; same-region matchups are excluded in that opening round. Later rounds pair teams with identical records, and rematches are not allowed.

The Knockout Stage will be held in Allen and Brooklyn from November 3 to 14. Quarterfinals are scheduled for November 3–6, semifinals for November 7–8, and the final for November 14. After the Swiss Stage, the quarterfinal draw will place the two 3-0 teams against two 3-2 teams, while the remaining four teams form two additional matches.

China sends Anyone’s Legend, Bilibili Gaming, Top Esports and Shanghai Invictus Gaming Meituan. Korea is represented by Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, T1 and Dplus Kia; EMEA by G2 Esports, Movistar KOI and Karmine Corp; North America by Team Liquid Alienware, LYON and Cloud9 Kia. Asia Pacific fields Team Secret Whales, CTBC Flying Oyster and MVK Esports, while Brazil has LOS and FURIA. A Worlds Fan Fest will run at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan from November 12 to 14, leading into the final.

ColdMath take

The schedule gives teams little room for error: Play-In results determine the final Swiss participant, while the three-win threshold makes every early series important. The strongest teams will need to manage a long tournament across three cities before the Brooklyn final.