On November 4 (KST), IG defeated LPL 3rd seed TES 3-1 in Quarterfinal Match 1 of the 2026 LoL World Championship (Worlds) at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas. With the return of 'TheShy' and 'Rookie' alongside the retention of 'Meiko', IG's miracle run that began in LPL Split 3 will now continue into the semifinals.
Game 1 belonged to IG. The decisive engagement came around the 15-minute mark in IG's jungle. With 'TheShy' Kang Seung-lok's Gnar absent, 'Meiko' misjudged his spacing on Nautilus and was caught out first, leading to 'Rookie' Song Eui-jin's Syndra being taken down as well. However, Gnar joined the fight via Teleport, and alongside 'JiaQi' on Kai'Sa, executed a brilliant kiting play to turn the fight around and score an Ace.
An awakened IG pushed aggressively. While Gnar continuously evaded enemy plays in top lane, the main squad rotated between bottom and mid to sweep up kills, allowing Kai'Sa to scale rapidly and unleash explosive damage in every teamfight. Building a lead of over 10,000 gold, IG claimed the opening game.
In Game 2, TES struck back on the back of a stellar performance by '369'. It was a victory achieved after a blood-soaked, long game. TES faced a crisis that almost ended the match when they suffered a major late-game teamfight loss, but '369' on Renekton saved the team with a clutch play, single-handedly taking down both 'JiaQi's Yunara and 'TheShy's Vayne. Having weathered the storm, TES won the final clash to close out the game.
IG took back Game 3. 'Wei' on Jayce accelerated his growth by landing effective plays in both mid and bottom lanes. While TES focused heavily on shutting down Zeri, the hugely scaled Jayce displayed immense presence in both standoff pokes and teamfights. A single hammer slam chunked over half of the enemy Yone's health. Led by their heavily fed Jayce, IG won Game 3.
In Game 4, 'Wei's Naafiri was active across all fronts from the early game. Delivering 2 deaths to '369's Aatrox with timely top ganks, Naafiri took the lead in objectives by stealing the first Dragon and securing all Voidgrubs. Although TES managed one counterstrike in a teamfight over the second Dragon, their fed Lucian played by 'JackeyLove' was caught out at a crucial moment, completely surrendering momentum.
IG deployed K'Sante and 'Rookie's Taliyah to the side lanes to maintain relentless pressure on TES. Whenever the slightest opening appeared, Naafiri ambushed and shredded the enemy. Scaled beyond even solo laners, Naafiri reduced half of Baron's health single-handedly, enabling IG to execute a sneaky Baron take. Ultimately, IG scored a massive victory in the Dragon Soul teamfight and marched into the enemy base to seal the match.
