The League of Legends World Championship Will Be Played in Three American Cities With a Final at the Barclays Center
Nineteen teams will compete between the fifteenth of October and the fourteenth of November, with eleven places filled by the middle of September.
The 2026 League of Legends World Championship will be held in the United States from 15 October to 14 November 2026, with nineteen teams competing across three venues.
The early stages will be played at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles, which seats about 300. The tournament then moves to the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, which holds 8,100, before the closing stages at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, which holds 19,000.
The format opens with a double-elimination play-in bracket of best-of-five series, followed by a sixteen-team Swiss stage in which three wins are needed to advance, and then single-elimination best-of-five knockouts. Fearless Draft is used for all best-of-three and best-of-five series.
Eleven places had been filled by 13 September. The LCK has all four of its slots taken by Gen G, Hanwha Life Esports, T1 and Dplus KIA. The LCP has three through Team Secret Whales, MVK Esports and CTBC Flying Oyster. Europe has G2 Esports and Karmine Corp, with a third place to be decided in Nice. Bilibili Gaming are the only Chinese team confirmed, with the remaining LPL places settled at regional finals from 17 September. The three LCS places and two CBLOL places are still open.