LEC 2026 Summer Split Playoffs Bracket

The LEC Summer Split 2026 Playoffs will take place from September 5 to 20, starting with a weekend in Madrid, where the top four teams will face off. The Lower Bracket will then move to Berlin before the final matches are played in Nice.

The entire playoff stage will be played in best-of-five series, with the top three teams qualifying for the World Championship in the United States. The teams finishing in fourth and fifth place will qualify for the Demacia Cup Global Invitational 2026.

The first week of Playoffs will be one of the most important, with the first two best-of-five series determining the first two EMEA representatives at Worlds. Karmine Corp, who earned the right to choose their opponent after finishing first in the regular season, will face GIANTX. G2 Esports, meanwhile, will take on Team Vitality.

The second day in Madrid will see the winners of these two series face off for a spot in the LEC Summer Split Grand Final, as well as to secure a top-two finish that guarantees qualification for the Worlds Main Event without having to go through the Play-In stage.

The playoffs will then move to Berlin’s LEC Studio for the first two Lower Bracket matches, where Natus Vincere and Movistar KOI await the losers of the Upper Bracket Round 1. To conclude the Summer Split, the LEC will head to the Palais Nikaïa in Nice, where the final three best-of-five series of the 2026 season will be played. There, we will find out the region’s final representative at Worlds, as well as the league’s runner-up and champion.

One of the most notable aspects of these playoffs is also Fnatic’s absence. After starting the Summer Split with three consecutive losses, Fnatic turned things around with a three-series winning streak, including a victory over G2 Esports. That revival briefly reignited hopes of another late run toward Worlds. However, Fnatic lost their final three series, with Sunday’s 1-2 defeat to GIANTX officially eliminating them from the Summer playoffs. More importantly, it means Fnatic will miss Worlds this year, ending their decade-long streak of qualifying for the tournament every year since 2017.