League of Legends Worlds 2026 Power Rankings

The 2026 League of Legends World Championship begins on October 15, as 19 teams from across the globe prepare to compete for the ultimate prize in LoL Esports: the Summoner’s Cup. Only one will emerge victorious, etching their name into history.

With teams from the LCK, LPL, LCS, LEC, LCP, and CBLOL converging in the United States, Sheep Esports’ reporters have compiled their annual Worlds Power Rankings to assess the contenders ahead of the tournament. Which teams are best positioned to make a deep run, and could 2026 finally see a champion other than ?

enters Worlds 2026 on the back of another strong season, with its second consecutive LCK title. With some of the best individual talent, international experience and team coordination, its roster has everything it needs to go for the Summoner’s Cup. While Gen.G has fallen short of the World Championship title on multiple occasions, its dominant performance in the LCK 2026 Season Knockout Stage showcased exactly why the Korean organization is one of the leading contenders heading into this year’s tournament.

The roster changes ahead of the 2026 LCK season have worked out well for . The team went through a difficult start in the LCK Cup but the performance only improved throughout the year. HLE’s aggressive playstyle also helped it secure its first MSI title, establishing its status as a genuine contender for the Summoner’s Cup. Moreover, with having already won three World Championship titles, his experience on the international stage could prove invaluable as HLE looks to make a deep run at the biggest stage of League of Legends.

The highest-ranked LPL team on the list, enters the tournament with high expectations, but also plenty to prove. After winning First Stand 2026, many believed this could finally be the year China returned to the top of the international stage. While their five-game defeat to Hanwha Life Esports at MSI could be forgiven, a complicated toplane situation that saw miss most of the split, coupled with a 1-3 loss to Anyone’s Legend in the LPL Grand Finals, has cast doubt on BLG’s potential at Worlds 2026. The team remains a force to be reckoned with, but will need to deliver on the international stage if it hopes to silence its critics.

were a consistent top 4 team in the LPL in 2026. This was a step down from their 2025, where they were usually the best or second best team. The addition of former RNG and Weibo Gaming top laner to replace 2021 world champion paid off massively, as the team pulled off an upset Summer Split win to deny the domestic golden road for Bilibili Gaming. The heart and soul of AL is jungler . The team pretty much lives and dies by Tarzan’s early- game prowess. His synergy with support and ADC maintaining his Summer Split playoffs form, are pivotal factors if AL want to outdo their quarterfinals finish in the previous edition.

Never count T1 out at Worlds. The reigning three-time world champion has had a less convincing season, but its ability to rise to the occasion is no secret. For instance, even in 2025, T1 struggled to secure titles throughout the year before lifting the World Championship trophy and completing a historic three-peat. The organisation has brought in Jang "MaRin" Gyeong-hwan and Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon, although only time will tell how much of an impact the changes will have on the team’s performance at Worlds. One thing T1 will not lack; however, is experience on the biggest stage.

G2 Esports once again carries Europe’s hopes into Worlds 2026 and has already demonstrated its ability to take down some of the best teams in the world, including a dominant 3-0 victory over Gen.G in the First Stand semifinal. However, replicating that level of performance consistently is a different challenge and the team’s 3-0 defeat to LYON is a clear example of this. If G2 can find the right balance, a deep run remains within reach. It will also be interesting to see how the coaching changes influence the roster, particularly now that Luka "Perkz" Perković has had more time to work with the team.

Esports World Cup champions and the strongest performers in Rounds 3-4 of the LCK, enter Worlds 2026 as underdogs. While the team has shown its capacity for greatness, inconsistency remains a major concern and keeps the squad from ranking any higher on the list. Still, led by and bolstered by a new generation of DK talent, Dplus KIA remains a team to fear and should prove stronger than most Western teams on paper.

In recent years, fourth seeds have enjoyed a surprisingly successful run at Worlds: three of the last four editions have been won by Korea’s fourth seed. Can Dplus KIA defy expectations and build on its recent success to pull off another upset?

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. Against expectations, snatched the LCS trophy from LYON to qualify for Worlds 2026 as North America’s champions. The historic squad steadily improved throughout the year, learning from each setback before finally claiming the throne, notably thanks to strong performances from Argentinian jungler .

Still, Worlds is a different beast, and Team Liquid will have to prove it can hold its own against the world's best. Earlier this year, the squad attended MSI but suffered two swift defeats against T1, leaving it with limited international experience beyond its home region. However, with every member of the lineup having previously attended Worlds, Team Liquid brings plenty of experience to the table.

One of the few organizations that can proudly claim to have won the World Championship, returns to the international stage after a swift exit in last year’s Play-In stage. With most of its roster remaining intact, aside from the addition of AD carry , the squad once again enters Worlds as the LPL’s fourth seed.

Despite boasting some of China’s most recognizable names, iG has struggled to live up to its legacy, enduring a difficult year and only narrowly qualifying for Worlds 2026 after dropping to the LPL’s lower group in Split 2. While the team has shown signs of improvement, even taking the eventual LPL champions to five games, inconsistency remains a major concern. Invictus Gaming’s current form is difficult to pin down: the squad could emerge as a genuine title contender or become one of the few teams Western representatives can realistically hope to take games off.

LCS giants were just one series away from completing the domestic golden road. However, their performance in the Summer Split has been less than ideal, where they were handily bested by Team Liquid in the grand finals. Despite the recent dip in form, LYON have proven that they can compete against the very best when they are firing on all cylinders. One can simply not count out a team led by jungler, who has the backing of superstar players like mid laner and ADC . With a lengthy break since the Summer Split playoffs, LYON easily have the potential to make it to the top 8, regardless of the draws.

The perennial disappointers at international events, return to Worlds for the third year in a row. This time around, the team has faced a host of visa issues that has unfortunately sidelined rookie top laner from the event. Veteran top laner will play his sixth Worlds event, but his expected level of play is a big unknown, as he hasn’t competed in over six months. Top Esports have a good base level and can easily match most of the upper-level teams on their best day. However, the aforementioned setbacks, paired with the ever-present reputation of crumbling at international events makes it quite hard to put TES in the top 10 despite their domestic consistency.

Oh, Karmine… Finalists at the Esports World Cup and genuine contenders in the LEC for most of the year, the Blue Wall was one of the few teams capable of seriously challenging G2 Esports in 2026. Still, with their first Worlds appearance ahead of them, plenty of questions remain.

As the LEC’s Play-In representative, must first navigate the gauntlet and redeem itself against Cloud9. The French organization already fell 0-3 to Team Liquid at MSI 2026, failing to escape the Play-In stage on that occasion. Following another 0-3 defeat, this time against Movistar KOI in the LEC Summer Playoffs, it is difficult to predict which version of KC will show up at Worlds.

Nevertheless, Karmine Corp’s stronger overall performances throughout the year give it a slight edge over its Spanish counterparts in our rankings. That said, the team sits considerably lower than it would have just a few weeks ago, had it not suffered such an uncharacteristic collapse in the playoffs.

has showcased consistent form in regional tournaments but has struggled to replicate that success against international teams. This is its second appearance at the World Championship, which gives them a great opportunity to display its potential on the global stage. However, Movistar KOI is far from being one of the favorites to lift the Summoner’s Cup and even advancing beyond the Swiss Stage will likely require the European team to pull off multiple upsets against some of the world's strongest League of Legends teams.

are one of the four teams to attend every single international event this year. The Vietnamese juggernauts successfully pulled off the domestic golden road and will look to replicate what CFO did at Worlds 2025: secure a playoffs finish for the LCP. A lot of their potential success at this event will rely on star jungler teaming up with support to run the map. However, mid laner weak laning phase is a worrying sign when going against an incredibly stacked mid lane pool at the event. Nevertheless, fans can expect plenty of entertainment from the Whales, thanks to their aggressive playstyle and top laner ’s penchant for spicy picks like Volibear, Urgot, and Sett.

After three years away from Worlds, are finally returning to the international stage. As the LCS's third seed, the North American organization will begin its Worlds 2026 campaign in the Play-In, where they are among the favorites to advance. The roster looks significantly different from the one that competed during the first half of the year, with the additions of and helping improve the team's performances. Cloud9 have a strong history at Worlds, having reached the semifinals in 2018, and will look to recapture that form as they represent North America on the international stage once again.

After an extraordinary run through a demanding schedule that included both the CBLOL Promotion tournament and the CBLOL itself, Brazil's invited representative have continued to overcome every opponent in their path. even defeated LYON at this year's Esports World Cup, giving Brazilian fans another reason to believe in the team's potential on the international stage. Now, they carry the region's hopes of reaching the Worlds playoffs for the first time in its history. Their roster also features , the youngest player at Worlds 2026, while will become one of the first Latin American players to compete in the tournament's main stage.

return to Worlds with a very different roster. Unlike last year, CFO had a terrible 2026 until Split 3, where the Split 2 additions of mid laner and support got time to gel with the team and enabled jungler to dictate the pace of the game for CFO. Fans can also expect veteran ADC to be a reliable carry for the team. It is unlikely that this iteration of CFO can match their 2025 predecessors, but they are definitely a team that shouldn’t be counted out in the Swiss Stage.

For the first time in history, Brazil will have two representatives at Worlds, and are looking to make the most of the opportunity. After setting a record for the most international appearances by a Brazilian team in a single year, they will aim to recapture the form they displayed at the beginning of the season during the Americas Cup, where they defeated both Sentinels and Cloud9 without dropping a map. However, their international campaigns at MSI 2026 and the Esports World Cup 2026 fell short of expectations. In an interview with Sheep Esports, support described the team's winless map record at both events as a “disgrace.” Now, FURIA are determined to turn the page, reignite Brazilian fans' hopes, and prove they can challenge international opposition once again.

will be the LCP representatives in the Worlds 2026 Play-in stage. This team has had quite an interesting trajectory in 2026. After a terrible start in the first LCP split, the team promoted four players from their academy roster and immediately saw better results by placing 4th in Split 2 and 3rd in Split 3. The star player for this team is ADC . However, top laner and mid laner are quite weak in the laning phase, which can be punished by other Play-in teams. The lack of coach comms from head coach in the early game will be another big drawback. All these factors unfortunately put MVK as the lowest-ranked team heading into the World Championship.