The League of Legends World Championship 2026 is less than two weeks away from kicking off with the Play-Ins.
All 19 LoL Worlds 2026 teams have been confirmed, with just Brazil’s CBLOL yet to crown its Summer Split champions.
The Play Ins will decide the sixteenth and final team for the Swiss Stage, before just eight teams advance to the Knockouts.
Three primary draws will decide the fate of this year’s teams at Worlds; here’s when each one will take place and the potential repercussions.
When is the LoL Worlds 2026 Play-Ins Draw?
The draw for the Play-Ins will take place directly after the conclusion of Brazil’s CBLOL Summer Finals between LØS and FURIA on October 10.
The best-of-five series starts at 12:00 EDT, so the earliest the draw could be is around 03:00 pm EDT / 12:00 pm PDT / 09:00 pm CEST.
This year’s Play-Ins will feature four teams in Karmine Corp, Cloud9, MVK Esports, and the CBLOL second seed.
Those teams will be randomly drawn into a double-elimination, best-of-five bracket with just one winner advancing to the Swiss Stage.
When is The LoL Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage Draw?
Once the one Play-In team has survived, the 16 Worlds Main Event teams will be initially drawn into random Round 1 match-ups.
The draw for these first matches will take place on Sunday, October 18, immediately after the Play-Ins final that day.
The teams have been seeded into four tiers:
- Tier 1: Gen.G, Anyone’s Legend, G2 Esports, Team Liquid
- Tier 2: Team Secret Whales, Hanwha Life Esports, Bilibili Gaming, CBLOL champion
- Tier 3: LYON, Movistar KOI, T1, Top Esports
- Tier 4: CTBC Flying Oyster, Invictus Gaming, Dplus Kia, Play-Ins winner
Round 1 will see Tier 1 teams against Tier 4 teams and Tier 2 versus Tier 3 teams. Teams from the same region cannot be drawn against each other for the first match.
From there, teams will be matched against teams with equal records for up to five rounds, with same-region match-ups possible from Round 2 onwards.
Teams will have to rack up at least three wins to advance to the Knockout Stage, while three losses will spell elimination.
This means there will be more random draws on October 23, October 24, October 26, and October 30.
When is the LoL Worlds 2026 Knockouts Draw?
Following the conclusion of the Swiss Stage, LoL Worlds 2026 will be down to just eight teams.
On Sunday, October 31, these teams will be randomly drawn into a single-elimination bracket of best-of-fives to decide this year’s champion.
The two teams with a 3-0 Swiss Stage record, the early LoL Worlds favourites, will be drawn against two of the teams with 3-2 records.
Then, the remaining four teams will be randomly drawn into two more matches against one another to finalise the bracket.
What team are you most excited to watch at Worlds this year? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, Team Liquid dominated LYON 3-1 in the LCS Summer Finals. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
An esports journalist for nine years with a focus on LoL Jack has written for national newspapers, interviewed major names, and driven people mad with puns. He's most proud of…
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