Riot Games has revealed the detailed schedule for the 2026 League of Legends World Championship, featuring 19 teams from six regions. The tournament will begin in Los Angeles on October 16 and conclude with the Finals in New York on November 15.
On October 6, League of Legends (LoL) developer and publisher Riot Games announced the tournament format, participating teams, schedule, and event details for the 2026 LoL World Championship (hereinafter Worlds). The tournament will consist of three stages: Play-Ins, Swiss, and Knockouts.
The Play-In Stage will take place from October 16 to 19 at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles. Four teams will participate: MVK Esports (MVK) from Asia-Pacific (LCP), Karmine Corp (KC) from EMEA (LEC), Cloud9 Kia (C9) from North America (LCS), and the second seed from Brazil (CBLOL). All matches will be played in a best-of-five, double-elimination format, with one team advancing to the Swiss Stage.
The Swiss Stage will be held at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, from October 24 to 27, and from October 29 to November 1. Teams with identical win-loss records will face each other. Standard matches will be best-of-one, while qualification and elimination matches will be best-of-three. The eight teams that achieve three wins will advance to the Knockout Stage.
From Korea's LCK, Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, T1, and Dplus KIA will join starting October 24. The LCK has won 10 out of 15 previous World Championships, and lifting the trophy at this tournament would mark its 11th overall title and fifth consecutive title since 2022.
From China (LPL), Anyone's Legend (AL), Bilibili Gaming (BLG), Top Esports (TES), and Shanghai Invictus Gaming Meituan (IG) will compete. In North America, Team Liquid Alienware (TLAW) and LYON have secured spots in the Swiss Stage, while EMEA's G2 Esports (G2) and Movistar KOI (MKOI) have done the same. Asia-Pacific's Team Secret Whales (TSW) and CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO), along with Brazil's LOS and FURIA, will also participate, with Brazil's final seed to be decided by the CBLOL Finals on October 10.
The Knockout Stage Quarterfinals will take place from November 4 to 7, followed by the Semifinals on November 8 and 9 at the same venue. The two teams that advance from the Swiss Stage with a 3-0 record will face 3-2 teams in the Quarterfinals and will be placed on opposite sides of the bracket. From the Quarterfinals to the Finals, all matches will be best-of-five. The Finals will be held at 4:00 AM on November 15 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The fan prediction event, 'Pick’Ems,' sponsored by AWS, will launch on October 10. Following the Crystal Ball and Play-In predictions, Swiss Stage predictions will run from October 19 to 24, and Knockout Stage predictions will take place from November 1 to 4.
This year's World Championship commemorative skin will be 'True Damage Know My Name Yasuo'. The anthem 'Know My Name' will be released at 10:00 AM on October 9, alongside the debut of the '2013 SKT T1 K Elite World Championship Winner Team Chromas'. A portion of the proceeds from commemorative merchandise and the Battle Pass will be distributed to the esports ecosystem to support participating teams.
