We’re 13 days away from the first stage of the
League of Legends 2026 World Championship. The Play-Ins will feature a never-before-seen format: four teams from North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Brazil in a full best-of-five double-elimination bracket. This time, no team from the LCK or LPL will participate, allowing a third seed from the former three regions, or a second seed from the latter, to reach the Main Stage.
As most regional leagues draw to a close, the Play-In draw will happen on
October 10th when the final qualified Worlds team is defined. For now, only two teams have qualified for the Play-In stage: LCP’s
and LEC’s
. Only one team will successfully snag the last ticket to the Swiss Stage at the
Credit Union of Texas Center in
Allen, Texas, on
October 23rd.
The last regional league to end is CBLoL’s Split 2, as the Grand Finals are scheduled for October 10th. A week before the final, the winner of the Loser Finals series between
and
will face the first finalist:
. One possible reason for CBLoL’s late end date is the
general elections happening
in the country on October 4th, though the exact reason is unclear.
Though LOS became the first finalist, the team can’t lose its focus. The guest slot awaits its Grand Finals opponent, but it’s concurrently playing in the CBLoL Promotion tournament against fierce competition. If LOS wins CBLoL Split 2 and gets relegated, they could become the first “Tier 2” team to play at the World Championship.
