With League of Legends MSI finished and the Esports World Cup coming to an end, it’s time to start the road to LoL Worlds with the Summer Split.
EMEA’s LEC, North America’s LCS, Korea’s LCK, China’s LPL, Asia-Pacific’s LCP, and Brazil’s CBLoL will all return soon.
The Summer Split is the last regional competition of the year as teams try to qualify for this year’s Worlds in the US.
Here are the start dates for each region and what we can expect from the top teams.
LEC Summer Split
The LEC Summer Split 2026 will get underway on Friday, July 24 and run for nine weeks straight with no breaks in between.
Riot has also expanded the schedule for this Summer, moving to four-day gameweeks lasting from Friday to Monday each week outside of Roadtrips.
This year’s Summer Split will start with a Roadtrip in Paris hosted by Karmine Corp featuring G2 Esports, Movistar KOI and Team Vitality.
The regular season will conclude August 30 and the Playoffs will then end with the LEC Season Finals in Nice, France from September 18-20.
All eyes will be on G2 who have won both LEC Playoffs so far this year, but underperformed at MSI and EWC.
LCS Summer Split
North America’s LCS will return on Saturday, July 25, with a seven-week regular season.
The LCS Summer Split will get underway with a series between two of the league’s top teams, LYON and FlyQuest.
Despite a lacklustre showing at the Esports World Cup, LYON will be on a high following their 3-0 thrashing of G2 at MSI.
The regular season will last until September 6, then the Playoffs will kick off on September 12 and end October 4.
LCK 2026 Rounds 3-4
The LCK 2026 will continue with Rounds 3-4, though it will start later than most regions, with the first match scheduled for July 29.
Though it’ll be worth the wait as the opening match will be a Telcom War between T1 and KT Rolser.
Team’s records from LCK Rounds 1-2 will carry over, meaning MSI champions Hanwha Life Esports could qualify for Worlds after a few weeks of games.
The regular season will then end on August 23, before proceeding into the Season Play-In, August 26-28, to determine the final two Playoff teams.
The LCK Season Playoffs will then last from August 29 until September 13 to decide the region’s four seeds at LoL Worlds 2026.
Polymarket users have the LCK as the most likely region to win Worlds this year at 63%.
LPL Split 3
The LPL gets underway very soon with Split 3 kicking off on July 22.
The huge regular season with 12 teams in total competing across two groups will last until August 23.
The Playoffs and Regional Finals will then determine the region’s four LoL Worlds teams, though exact dates have not yet been confirmed.
Either way, First Stand 2026 champions Bilibili Gaming will have to be the favourites for the title after winning both LPL splits so far this year.
LCP Split 3
APAC’s LCP will return on July 25 with a new Swiss Stage format to determine the Playoff teams.
The regular season will end on August 30, with dates for the Playoffs not yet confirmed.
Team Secret Whales have won both splits so far this year, and will have to be the favourites in Split 3.
CBLOL Split 2
Brazil’s CBLOL will return with Split 2 on July 25 and will then end on August 30 following a single round robin of best-of-threes.
The top six will then advance to the Playoffs, which will take place from September 5 until October 10.
LOUD won the CBLOL Cup and FURIA won Split 1, but Split 1 runners-up LØS may be the favourites after their win over LYON at EWC.
Which team or player are you most excited to watch in the Summer Split? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, Riot Games has confirmed that Classic Skins will be free and the default option in League of Legends Classic. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
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