Six nations secure their spot at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games

After two qualification stages, the six nations that will compete in the Central American and Caribbean Games for League of Legends are finally known. For its 25th edition, the event will take place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from July 24 to August 8, and will mark the first time esports becomes a medal event, not only for LoL, but also for eFootball (ex-PES) and Street Fighter 6.

The Riot Games MOBA tournament will be played offline in the Dominican capital on August 6 and 7, featuring six participating countries, including the host nation. Coming through the qualification process, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, and Honduras will also be in attendance, all aiming for the gold medal, or at least a silver or bronze finish.

For the League of Legends tournament, the six teams will first be split into two groups of three. The group stage will be played in a round-robin format, with all matches being best-of-one (Bo1), a fast-paced and unforgiving format for a competition of this scale. At the end of this stage, the top two teams from each group will advance to the single-elimination playoff bracket, with the winner of Group A facing the runner-up of Group B, while the winner of Group B will meet the runner-up of Group A. The semifinals and third-place match will also be played as Bo1s, before a best-of-three (Bo3) grand final determines the winner of this historic first edition.

To determine the five qualified nations joining the Dominican Republic, Centro Caribe Sports, the organization in charge of the event, held two qualifiers featuring eight nations out of the more than 30 eligible to participate in the Central American and Caribbean Games. In both tournaments, the participants were split into two groups of four, using the same format as the final competition set to take place in August.

Colombia dominated the qualification process, not dropping a single game across the twelve matches it played and winning both qualifiers 2-0 in the finals against Venezuela. The Venezuelans were the other standout nation of the qualification stage. After advancing from groups twice with perfect 3-0 records, they reached both finals but were unable to take a single game off the Colombian squad.

Alongside this duo, Panama and Guatemala also secured qualification for Santo Domingo after finishing level on points. Both nations advanced from the group stage in both qualifiers with 2-1 records but were unable to progress beyond the semifinals, even cancelling each other out in the third-place matches. While Panama lost the first third-place match, it eventually got its revenge in the second qualifier.

Tied after both tournaments, Guatemala ultimately won the tiebreaker and officially finished third in the qualification standings, behind Venezuela and Colombia. Honduras claimed the fifth and final spot despite recording only two wins in six matches. Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Cuba were the three other nations that participated in the qualifiers.

The final draw for the competition has not yet been conducted or announced by the organizers.

As champions of the Central American Games, held in late October 2025 in Guatemala City, Panama could emerge as a dark horse against Colombia and its players, many of whom currently compete or have previously competed in the Liga Regional Norte and the North American Challengers League. Colombia is likely the clear favorite after a qualification campaign it dominated from start to finish, including against Venezuela, a team that failed to take a single game from them.

In addition to the Central American Games held in late 2025, 2026 is shaping up to be a major year for international national team competitions. As mentioned in this article, the Central American and Caribbean Games will take place next August in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, while the Asian Games will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, next October, with the Esports Nations Cup serving as the main highlight.

Scheduled to take place in Riyadh next November, the ENC should, unlike the other events, be a truly global international competition rather than a tournament featuring only neighboring nations from the same continent. While the Asian Games are expected to see South Korea face Taiwan, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, among others, the inaugural Nations Cup should provide the opportunity to watch matches between several of League of Legends' biggest esports nations, including China, Brazil, the United States, France, and, of course, the South Korean favorites.