LEC team Movistar KOI (MKOI) have shockingly had an early exit from the League of Legends tournament at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026.
MKOI dropped into the EWC lower bracket after losing a best-of-one to Final Stand champions and MSI runners-up Bilibili Gaming.
However, a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of APAC second seeds GAM Esports then eliminated them from the $2 million tournament.
Meanwhile, Karmine Corp barely spared EMEA’s blushes after defeating their APAC opponents, Team Secret.
MKOI’s Abysmal Performance
The predominantly Spanish MKOI roster stepped onto the stage in Paris and were met with overwhelming boos from all the KCorp fans.
It hadn’t helped that Spain had knocked France out of the World Cup the previous night.
It was a shaky start for MKOI as they lost a Baron fight in the first match, and found themselves almost 6K gold down while defending their own base.
However, they managed to barely hold on thanks to heroics by Joseph Joon ‘Jojopyun’ Pyun and Alex ‘Myrwn’ Pastor Villarejo.
With one Nexus tower standing, more excellent Galio play by Jojopyun allowed MKOI to win the Elder fight and complete the comeback.
Yet, that turned out to be only a consolation point as GAM then went on to win the next two matches.
The third and final match was MKOI’s turn to throw away a lead.
They were dominating the early game, finding multiple kills across the map with various successful roams and ganks.
But GAM found an excellent team fight at Rift Herald to claw their way back into the game.
Still, MKOI’s early advantage meant they had a big lead in Dragons and eventually claimed the Hextech Soul, which should have secured their victory.
Yet, while earning Soul MKOI got clean aced and GAM nearly ended the game, taking down the Nexus to half health.
GAM then won another team fight, as they had done throughout the series, as secured the org’s biggest victory in the last couple of years.
Can this MKOI roster recover for Worlds qualification, or does the roster need an overhaul? Share your thoughts with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, the Esports World Cup has a new ambassador in Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
Comments