The League of Legends Esports World Cup (LoL EWC) tournament has found its top eight teams ahead of the Knockout Stages.
The Group Stages saw G2 Esports, Movistar KOI, and LYON amongst the teams eliminated early.
Meanwhile, Hanwha Life Esports, T1, Karmine Corp, AG.AL, Gen.G, JD Gaming, Bilibili Gaming, and DPlus Kia all survived.
Those eight elite teams will now compete for the lion’s share of the $2 million prize pool and try to earn crucial points for the Club Championship.
LoL EWC Knockouts Schedule
The LoL quarter-finals of EWC 2026 will take place tomorrow, Friday July 17 with four massive best-of-three series.
Following the top eight draw, the schedule for the beginning of the Knockout Stages looks like this:
- HLE vs T1 – 1:00 PM CEST / 7:00 AM EDT
- Gen.G vs JDG – 1:00 PM CEST / 7:00 AM EDT
- AG.AL vs KCorp – 3:30 PM CEST / 9:30 AM EDT
- BLG vs DK – 3:30 PM CEST / 9:30 AM EDT
The semifinals will then be HLE/T1 vs AG.AL/KCorp and Gen.G/JDG vs BLG/DK, taking place on Saturday, July at 1:00 PM and 3:30 PM CEST.
Polymarket users have MSI champions HLE as the EWC favourites at 39%, though the opening draw against reigning world champions T1 could prove to be quite the hurdle.
The biggest underdogs are KCorp, the only Western team left in the tournament after all of the LPL and LCK representatives avoided elimination.
Their opponents AG.AL (Anyone’s Legend) already defeated LEC champions G2 earlier in the tournament, though the team looked vulnerable and KCorp will have the home crowd advantage.
And DPlus Kia’s players are owed at least a month of unpaid wages, and will want to progress further in the lucrative tournament.
However, to do so they will have to cause a major upset against LPL and First Stand champions BLG.
Who do you expect to claim the EWC trophy? Share your predictions with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, see what champions could be added to LoL Classic in the future. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
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