Insider Gaming has everything you need to know before the League of Legends World Championship 2026 starts on October 15, including the full team list, the Play-In stage draw, and the Pools for the Swiss Stage.
Following the crowning of LOS as the CBLOL Summer Split Champions, we finally have the full list of League of Legends Worlds 2026 teams and know where they will start in the competition, so let’s get stuck in!
League of Legends Worlds 2026 team list
Swiss Stage:
- Gen.G
- HLE
- T1
- Dplus KIA
- Anyone’s Legend
- Bilibili Gaming
- Top Esports
- Invictus Gaming
- G2
- MKOI
- Team Liquid
- LYON
- Team Secret Whales
- CTBC Flying Oyster
- LOS
- Play-In Stage winner
Play-In Stage
- Karmine Corp
- Cloud9
- MVK Esports
- FURIA
League of Legends Worlds 2026 Play-Ins Draw & Schedule
The League of Legends Worlds 2026 Play-In Stage will run October 15-18 at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles in a double-elimination format, with every contest being a Fearless Best of 5 matchup.
The 300-capacity arena is the home of the LCS, giving Cloud9 a potential edge over the opposition as they enter familiar surroundings in LA.
The League of Legends Worlds 2026 Play-In draw is:
- FURIA vs MVK Esports – 15 October, 11:00 PDT/14:00 EST/20:00 CEST
- Karmine Corp vs Cloud9 – 15 October, 16:00 PDT/19:00 EST/October 16, 01:00 CEST
Each day will start at 11:00 PDT/14:00 EST/20:00 CEST, with only October 15 and October 16 featuring two matches in the day. If you’re in Europe, the second match of the day is set to start at 1:00 AM CEST, so plan your sleep schedule accordingly.
League of Legends 2026 Pool Seeding
Following the Play-In Stage, which decides the 16th and final Swiss Stage team, the Swiss Stage draw will occur, setting the initial matchups for the main stage of the competition.
The first round matchups will be drawn based on seeding, with teams separated into four pools where teams face opposition from the opposite pools; i.e., Pool 1 teams will face Pool 4 teams and Pool 2 teams will face Pool 3 teams.
The Play-In Stage winner will be automatically placed in Pool 4, giving them a tough opening Swiss Stage matchup no matter what.
Teams from the same region cannot face each other in the first round, and rematches cannot happen during the Swiss Stage.
The Worlds 2026 Pools are:
| Pool 1 | Pool 2 | Pool 3 | Pool 4 |
| Gen.G | Team Secret Whales (TSW) | LYON | CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO) |
| Anyone’s Legend | LOS | MKOI | Invictus Gaming |
| Team Liquid | Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) | T1 | Dplus KIA |
| G2 | Bilibili Gaming (BLG) | Top Esports (TES) | Play-In Stage Winner |
Who do you think will win Worlds 2026? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the Valorant Champions 2026 Top 4, and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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