Worlds 2026 gets a new Play-In format: everything you need to know

The 2026 League of Legends World Championship will feature a never-before-seen Play-In format where only teams from the LEC, LCP, LCS, and CBLoL will brawl to secure the last spot in the tournament, according to the 2026 World Championship Event Specific Ruleset released on August 31st.

For the second consecutive year, the Play-In Stage will suffer a format change following the single best-of-five series played between the LPL and the LCK’s fourth seed in 2025. The 2026 edition will feature a double-elimination bracket with all series played as best-of-five, with only one team advancing to the Main Stage:

The matchups for the first round of the Play-In are not yet known.

The only team that’s secured its place in the Play-Ins so far comes from the LCP. MVK Esports’s current level ramped up during the LCP’s Split 3 after a somewhat disappointing start to their season. The Vikings finished third in the regular season, which set up a match against in Round 1 of the playoffs. After MVK was knocked to the Loser’s Bracket by the Taiwanese, the partnered Vietnamese team awaited them: . In a close 3-2 series, the Vikings prevailed against their rivals and secured at least a berth in the Play-In stage.

This victory set up a rematch against the Flying Oysters for a chance at direct qualification at Worlds, and a shot at the LCP Championship. Unfortunately for the Vikings, the story repeated itself, and they lost 1-3 to CFO. This is the team that lined up against CFO and will most likely represent the organization at Worlds Play-Ins:

The timeline for the final participating teams will be decided between September 19th and October 10th. The first region to finalize its Play-In participant will be EMEA. The 2026 LEC Summer Finals Weekend will be played on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of September in Nice, France. The loser of the Loser’s Finals, played on the former date, will lock LEC’s third Worlds slot and a trip to the Play-Ins.

NA, the host region of Worlds 2026, will be the third region to lock its Play-In representative. The Finals of the 2026 Summer Split will be played on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of October in Atlanta, Georgia. The team that fails to reach the final on the latter date will be allocated the LCS’ third seed and will host and defend NA’s pride in the Play-Ins.

The last region to lock its Play-In representative is Brazil. The teams battling to lift the CBLoL’s Split 2 trophy will both participate at this edition of Worlds. However, the Runner-Up of the Finals, played on October 10th in Rio de Janeiro, will receive CBLoL’s first-ever second seed and duke it out with the rest of the teams in the Play-Ins Stage.