2026 League of Legends World Championship Overview

We are slowly but steadily getting ready for the biggest League of Legends tournament of the year – Worlds 2026. The crowning event of LoL esports will take place between October and November 2026 and will feature 19 teams. It’s definitely something that will catch the attention of both League of Legends players and bettors, so the Nostrabet.com team and I decided to dive deep and show you what you need to know.

LoL Worlds 2026 Overview & Prize Pool

In early 2025, the LoL community learned that 2026 Worlds would take place in North America. Players can watch it in Los Angeles, Allen and New York City, and the Grand Final will be held in the Barclays Center.

As for the tournament itself, we will have a Play-In stage (with double-elimination), a Swiss Stage with Swiss System and a Knockout Stage that will have single elimination. The Play-In stage will be held October 15-18 and will feature 4 teams in a double-elimination bracket with Bo5 matches.

Once the Swiss Stage arrives, we will have 16 teams playing in a 5-round Swiss format. The goal here is for a team to secure 3 victories, which will advance it to the Knockout Stage. If a team gets 3 losses, it will be eliminated. All elimination matches will be in Bo3 and Fearless Draft, whereas all other games are Bo1.

The Knockout Stage will have a single elimination bracket with Bo5 Fearless Draft matches.

Worlds 2026 will take place between October 15 and November 14 and will feature 19 teams. They will compete for a share of the $5,000,000 prize pool.

Speaking of the prize pool, the tournament winner will take home $1,000,000, which is 20% of the total prize pool. The team that places second gets $800,000, while the 3rd and 4th-place finishers receive $400,000 each.

League of Legends World Championship 2026 – Participating Teams

There will be a total of 19 LoL teams competing at Worlds 2026. At the time of writing, however, we only know the names of 16. People are still waiting for the CBLOL 2026 Split 2 and the LCS 2026 Summer qualifiers to conclude. With that said, here is a list of all the participating teams we are currently aware of and how they ended up at the event.

• Gen.G – LCK 2026
• T1 – LCK 2026
• Hanwha Life – MSI 2026
• Dplus – LCK 2026
• Anyone’s Legends – LPL 2026 Split 3
• Bilibili Gaming – LPL 2026 Championship Points
• Top Esports – LPL 2026 Regional Finals
• Invictus Gaming – LPL 2026 Regional Finals
• Team Liquid – LCS 2026 Summer
• Cloud 9 – LCS 2026 Summer
• G2 Esports – LEC 2026 Summer
• Movistar KOI – LEC 2026 Summer
• Karmine Corp – LEC 2026 Summer
• Secret Whales – LCP 2026 Split 3
• CTBC Flying Oyster – LCP 2026 Split 3
• MVK Esports – LCP 2026 Championship Points
• TBD – CBLOL 2026 Split 2
• TBD – CBLOL 2026 Split 2
• TBD – LCS Summer 2026

Those of you who don’t have LoL Worlds 2026 tickets can watch one of the many live streams. You can follow the tournament in English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and German, among several others.

Worlds 2026 Betting – the Favorites

At the time of writing, bookmakers have not revealed their odds for the 2026 World Cup yet. However, the team and I decided to analyze the performance of each participating squad and found some interesting results.

Gen.G is definitely one of the names you have to be on the lookout for, and most bookies will probably put them as the favorites. The Korean powerhouse secured its LCK 2026 title after defeating Hanwha Life Esports. This was the club’s second important victory after its impressive Esports World Cup performance, where it defeated T1. Gen.G’s current roster is built around Chovy, Canyon, Kiin, and Ruler, all of whom are experienced veterans who know how to handle tricky situations.

Hanwha Life Esports is also another of the potential Worlds 2026 favorites. Despite not winning the LCK 2026, Hanwha actually claimed the MSI 2026 championship after defeating Bilibili Gaming. Their current roster also has a lot of experience, so they are definitely one of the powerhouses to keep in mind.

We also have to mention T1, a team that is always a dangerous contender to win Worlds. The legendary organization has not had its best year so far, but T1 still holds the record for the most trophies. Given their experience and top-4 finish at the Esports World Cup, T1 has the potential to win again.

Outside of the Korean trio, LoL bettors should also consider teams like Bilibili Gaming, Top Esports and G2 Esports as worth considering. The latter is Europe’s biggest hope of winning the most prestigious LoL event, but we’ll have to wait and see if it has what it takes.

Closing Thoughts

Worlds 2026 will be League of Legends’s biggest tournament of the year and the final test for the best teams. We can clearly see that some of the participants are in a much better position to win than others. All that is left for us is to wait and see what happens. One thing is certain: the tournament will be worth watching.