All qualification paths for League of Legends Worlds 2026
18 August 2026
As you likely know, the League of Legends World Championship, more commonly known as simply Worlds, is the crowning event of every League of Legends season. And of course, one of the major events on the international esports calendar overall. As we write this, the 2026 edition of the LoL World Championship is fast approaching. From October 15th to November 14th, the 19 best teams in the world will gather at various locations in the United States to compete for the title of League of Legends world champion and a share of the huge prize pool, which is expected to reach at least $ 5 million.
Six major regions
As usual, there will be six different qualification paths for the League of Legends World Championship 2026, in accordance with the six major regions around the world, as defined by Riot Games. As we wrote in the intro, a total of 19 teams will be present at the event and three of those teams are already known at the time of writing. Below you can find a complete overview of all qualification paths plus the names of the teams who have already qualified.
Asia-Pacific (3)
- 1st Seed: LCP 2026 Split 3 Champion
- 2nd Seed: LCP 2026 Split 3 Runner-Up
- 3rd Seed: Team Secret Whales (LCP 2026 Championship Points)
Brazil (2)
- 1st Seed: CBLOL 2026 Split 2 Playoffs Champion
- 2nd Seed: CBLOL 2026 Split 2 Playoffs Runner-Up
China (4)
- 1st Seed: LPL 2026 Grand Finals Champion
- 2nd Seed: Bilibili Gaming (LPL 2026 Championship Points)
- 3rd Seed: LPL 2026 Regional Finals Winner
- 4th Seed: LPL 2026 Regional Finals Runner-Up
EMEA (3)
- 1st Seed: LEC 2026 Summer Playoffs Champion
- 2nd Seed: LEC 2026 Summer Playoffs Runner-Up
- 3rd Seed: LEC 2026 Summer Playoffs 3rd Place
North America (3)
- 1st Seed: LCS 2026 Championship Champion
- 2nd Seed: LCS 2026 Championship Runner-Up
- 3rd Seed: LCS 2026 Championship 3rd Place
South Korea
- 1st Seed: LCK 2026 Season Playoffs Champion
- 2nd Seed: LCK 2026 Season Playoffs Runner-Up
- 3rd Seed: LCK 2026 Season Playoffs 3rd Place
- 4th Seed: Hanwha Life Esports (MSI 2026 Champion/LCK 2026 Season Playoffs 4rd Place)
2026 Worlds calendar
Riot Games has also confirmed the calendar for the upcoming World 2026 event:
- October 15th – October 18th: Play-in
- October 23rd – October 26th and October 28th – October 31st: Swiss Stage
- November 3rd – November 8th + November 14th: Knockout Stage
At any stage, matches will be using Fearless Draft, meaning that no champion can be played more than once during the entire series, regardless of whether a Best-of-3 or Best-of-5 format is used.
Three playing cities
The League of Legends 2026 World Championship will be played across three cities in the United States. The initial Play-In will take place in Los Angeles (California) at the Riot Games Arena. The Swiss Stage plus the Knock-out Stage’s Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be played at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allan (Texas). The Grand Final is planned for the enormous Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, on November 14th, 2026.