UPDATE: The Olympic Council of Asia confirmed this Wednesday, May 27, that the qualifier will take place from June 12 to 14 in Kuala Lumpur.
Already hinted at by those dates, the qualification tournament for the
League of Legends event at the
Asian Games 2026 is therefore expected to take place in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, from June 12 to 14, according to information revealed by the Vietnam Recreational and Electronic Sports Association on
Facebook. The competition itself, scheduled to run from Saturday, September 19, to Sunday, October 4, in Japan, across the city of Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture, has still not unveiled all details, including the exact on-site tournament dates and format.
In a post published this Tuesday, May 12, VIRESA revealed the qualifier dates for several of the eleven esports disciplines featured at the 2026 Asian Games, including Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Naraka Bladepoint, Identity V, and League of Legends. For LoL, as well as HoK, nations that are not directly invited to the competition in Japan will have to travel to Malaysia in mid-June to try to qualify.
Who will compete in the qualifiers?
Scheduled from June 12 to 14, those dates also seem to indicate that
South Korea, as in 2022, could once again receive a direct slot for Nagoya. Indeed, during the very same weekend, the Road to MSI finals will take place in Wonju, the LAN event that will determine which Korean teams qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Alongside the possible absence of South Korea in Malaysia, although not officially confirmed yet, several Asian nations have already announced that they will not participate in the League of Legends event. Despite being the host nation and directly invited, Japan will not field a roster in Riot Games’ MOBA, as announced by the Japan eSports Union last December. The decision sparked significant discussion in the country, as local players and industry figures continue trying to sustain and grow the Japanese scene.
Like Japan, both Thailand and Indonesia have also confirmed they will not participate, though they are clearly not the only absentees. According to information gathered by Sheep Esports from the social media accounts of various national representatives, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Nepal, and Singapore also appear unlikely to take part, as they have only announced participation in several other Asian Games 2026 esports titles, but not League of Legends.
On the other side, among the nations expected to compete for medals are South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, alongside Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, India, Sri Lanka, Laos, and Jordan. Having announced these dates, Vietnam should logically be in as well.
