19 teams, 30 days, one winner — the League of Legends World Championship begins in the US on Thursday

From October 15 to November 14, the United States will host the 16th League of Legends World Championship (Worlds 2026). The strongest esports teams on the planet will compete for the coveted trophy in three stages, hosted by Los Angeles, Allen and Brooklyn, reports UNN.

Details

The 2026 League of Legends World Championship is an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, which will take place in the United States—in Los Angeles (California), Allen (Texas, part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area), and New York City (New York)—from October 15 to November 14.

This will be the sixteenth League of Legends World Championship, as well as the fifth tournament hosted by the United States.

World Championship schedule

The tournament will take place in three stages: the preliminary stage will be held on October 15–18, the Swiss stage on October 23–31, and the playoff stage on November 3–14.

The preliminary stage (best-of-three) in Los Angeles will run from Thursday, October 15, to Sunday, October 18. All matches will begin at 21:00 Kyiv time

The Swiss stage (best-of-one, best-of-three), which will take place in Allen, Texas, will run from Friday, October 23, to Saturday, October 31. Matches will be held from 20:00 to 23:00.

The playoff stage (best-of-three) will also take place in Allen and Brooklyn. The quarterfinals and semifinals will begin at 1:00 from Wednesday, November 4, through Monday, November 9.

The tournament final will take place on Sunday, November 14, in Brooklyn. It will begin at 22:00. 

List of participants

This year, the following teams will compete for the championship title:

• China - Anyone’s Legend (AL), Bilibili Gaming (BLG), TOP Esports (TES), Shanghai Invictus Gaming Meituan (IG);
• South Korea - Gen.G (GEN), Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), T1 (T1), Dplus KIA (DK);
• Europe - G2 Esports (G2), Movistar KOI (MKOI), Karmine Corp (KC);
• North America - Cloud 9 Kia (C9), Team Liquid Alienware (TLAW), LYON (LYON);
• Asia - Team Secret Whales (TSW), CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO), MVK Esports (MVK);
• Brazil - LOS (LOS), Team (TRICODE).

It should be noted that participants in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) are three-time defending champions.

World Championship format

In the preliminary stage, four teams will compete in a best-of-three format, with elimination after two losses. Opponents will be selected through a completely blind draw. Any team may face any other team.

The Swiss stage is a competition consisting of five rounds, during which teams will attempt to win at least three matches to advance to the playoff stage. Teams that lose three matches will be eliminated from the competition.

After the Swiss stage is completed, the remaining teams will take part in the quarterfinal draw. During this draw, the two teams with a 3:0 record from the Swiss stage will be randomly assigned opponents from among the two teams with a 3:2 record. The remaining four teams will then be divided into two more pairs through a blind draw.

Broadcasts will be available on Riot’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.