Riot Games’ LoL Esports account published its Worlds 2026 guide on October 5. The 2026 League of Legends World Championship is an edition of the annual World Championship series and will bring 19 teams to the United States from October 15 to November 14. Riot frames this year’s theme as “This Is Our Moment,” describing the tournament as a shared culmination of the season for professional players, fans and the wider ecosystem.
The Play-In Stage runs October 15–18 at Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles, with matches beginning at 11 a.m. PDT. The Swiss Stage is scheduled for October 23–26 and October 28–31 at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas. Its first four match days begin at noon CDT; the October 28–30 matches begin at 3 p.m. CDT, and October 31 begins at noon. The best-of-five Knockout Stage in Allen runs November 3–8: quarterfinals are November 3–6 and semifinals November 7–8, with matches starting at 4 p.m. Central time. The best-of-five Grand Final is November 14 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
The published field comprises four LPL teams—Anyone’s Legend (AL), Bilibili Gaming (BLG), TOP Esports (TES) and Shanghai Invictus Gaming Meituan (IG); four LCK teams—Gen.G (GEN), Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), T1 and Dplus Kia (DK); three LEC teams—G2 Esports, Movistar KOI (MKOI) and Karmine Corp (KC); three LCS teams—Team Liquid Alienware (TLAW), LYON and Cloud9 Kia (C9); three LCP teams—Team Secret Whales (TSW), CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO) and MVK Esports (MVK); and two CBLOL teams, LOS and FURIA. The Play-In draw will determine the CBLOL teams’ seed positions after the league final on October 10.
Four teams—CBLOL’s second seed, KC, C9 and MVK—will enter a randomly drawn double-elimination Play-In bracket, with every match a best-of-five and one team advancing. The five-round Swiss Stage requires three wins to reach Knockouts; a third loss eliminates a team. Riot says the Round 1 Swiss draw will take place after Play-Ins conclude on October 18. Its four draw tiers are: GEN, AL, TLAW and G2; CBLOL’s first seed, TSW, HLE and BLG; LYON, MKOI, T1 and TES; then CFO, IG, DK and the Play-In winner. Tier 1 faces Tier 4, Tier 2 faces Tier 3, and teams from the same region cannot meet in Round 1. From Round 2 onward, teams are randomly paired with others holding the same record, without repeat opponents; regional matchups are allowed. Round draws are scheduled for October 23, 24, 26 and 30. After Swiss, the October 31 quarterfinal draw pairs the two 3–0 teams against two of the 3–2 teams, then draws the remaining four teams into two matches.
Worlds Fan Fest will run November 12–14 at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan, with partner activations, play areas, developer panels, guests and community programming. Its listed hours are 3–9 p.m. on November 12 and 13 and 11 a.m.–8 p.m. on November 14. Riot’s Pick’Ems and Crystal Ball return with new rewards: predictions open October 10 at 4 p.m. PDT for Crystal Ball and Play-Ins, then open for Swiss on October 18 and Knockouts on October 31; picks lock before the first match of each stage. Riot says final scores will be settled after the November 14 final, with rewards targeted within 48 hours. Pick’Ems require a Riot account and Summoner Name, are unavailable in Cuba, North Korea, Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk and Myanmar, and may have region-specific reward eligibility. The guide also previews the True Damage Know My Name Yasuo skin, chromas, bundles, a Worlds pass, regional emotes and team icons; some proceeds from listed Worlds items will be shared with Tier 1 teams. The International Tournament Skin Promotion offers eligible winning-team skins at 33% off, excluding Prestige, Ultimate, Mythic Variant, Exalted and Transcendent skins. Twitch subscribers to Riot Games, CBLOL, LoL Esports LA, LoL Esports Taiwan and League of Legends Japan channels receive emotes, badges and ad-free viewing, with a portion of proceeds allocated to the Global Revenue Pool. Wild Rift will feature a customizable Worlds Volibear skin and themed pass. Riot also says it will fund gaming, game-development and esports classroom projects in California, Texas and New York through DonorsChoose for the fourth year; it reports more than 1,600 projects funded, nearly 1,000 teachers supported across more than 49 states and over 110,000 students reached to date. Worlds merchandise will include another Worlds Unlocked collection, a Riftbound keepsake and New York-themed collaborations; Riot said more details would arrive October 7.
