South Korea took a 1-0 lead after winning Game 1 of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games LoL semifinals against Saudi Arabia, held at Aichi Sky Expo in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on October 1. Early in the match, Saudi Arabia's bottom lane performed better than expected, but there was no upset.
South Korea started off by securing a kill on the opposing jungler Kha'Zix through an early counter-jungle, but surrendered two kills in the bottom lane. The game then progressed closer than expected as both teams traded kills in the top and bottom lanes. At the 13-minute mark, 'Gumayusi' on Kalista (0/3/0) and 'Keria' on Renata Glasc (0/2/0) suffered poor bottom-lane growth, but South Korea clearly led on the topside and stacked two Dragons.
Once the teamfight phase began, South Korea demonstrated why they are so formidable. They secured a decisive victory in a skirmish in front of the Rift Herald through clean combos and took the Herald as well, widening the gold gap significantly. By the 18-minute mark, the gold lead expanded to 8,000 as South Korea tightened their grip on the Rift. After winning another teamfight and slaying Baron right at 20 minutes, the gold difference quickly surpassed 10,000.
Ultimately, pushing through the bottom lane with the Baron buff, South Korea destroyed Saudi Arabia's Nexus in just 21 minutes and 55 seconds to make it 1-0.
