LoL Esports 2026: Updated Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship Infromation
The First Stand international event has ended. Bilibili Gaming won the first LoL Esports event of the year, after defeating G2 Esports 3-1. Shortly before the final took place, Riot announced additional details for the other international events. CBLOL fans can rejoice as their region gets a second slot at the World Championship. Below are all the new details for the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship.
LoL Esports: Mid-Season Invitational 2026
The Mid-Season Invitational will take place in Daejeon, South Korea, this year. It is the first time the city will host a LoL Esports event. The Daejeon Convention Center II will host all the matches from June 28th to July 12th. Will Gen.G Esports be able to win their third consecutive MSI in front of their home crowd?
Format
MSI 2026 will have a similar format to last year. There are two stages: The Play-In and the Bracket Stage. The Play-Ins will run from June 28th to July 1st. Four teams will compete in a Double-Elimination Bracket. Only one team will advance into the Bracket Stage. Because Bilibili Gaming won First Stand, both of their teams will start in the Bracket Stage. The other regions will have their first seeds skipping the Play-In Stage. The Bracket Stage will run over two blocks. The first block is from July 3rd to July 6th, and the second block is from July 8th to July 12th.
Eleven teams will qualify for MSI 2026. All regions, besides CBLOL, will have two teams participating at the second LoL Esports event of the year.
LoL Esports: World Championship 2026
The World Championship returns to the United States this year. The last time the US hosted a World Championship, Deft and DRX completed the Cinderella story. Is there another surprise story on the cards later this year? Or will T1 win an unprecedented fourth World Championship in a row?
Format
The format for the 2026 World Championship will remain largely the same. The significant change comes with the Play-In stage. With CBLOL now receiving two slots, nineteen teams will feature in the event. Four of those teams will begin their journey in the Play-In stage. The play-ins are a double-elimination best-of-five bracket that will see one team advancing to the Swiss Stage. Regional performance and results from MSI 2026 will determine the teams’ seeding.
The LCK, LCS, LCP, LEC, and LPL will feature three teams. The CBLOL will have two teams. Additional slots will go to the MSI Champion and an additional team from the second-place region at MSI. The MSI Champion must qualify for their domestic region’s playoffs to confirm the invite.
Location Changes
The Play-In Stage will no longer take place in Allen, Texas. Instead, the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles will host the Double-Elimination bracket. The matches will take place from October 15th to October 18th.
The rest of the competition, until the Grand Final, will take place in the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas. The Swiss Stage will run over two blocks: October 23rd to October 26th and October 28th to October 31st. The Knockout Stage will run over six days, starting on November 3rd and will end on November 8th.
The Grand Final will take place six days later on November 14th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
LoL Esports Coverage
To stay up to date with more LoL Esports coverage, keep an eye out for Total Apex Entertainment. You can find reviews from the recent First Stand international event below.
- Gen.G Esports Versus G2 Esports Review
- Bilibili Gaming Versus JD Gaming Review
- G2 Esports Versus Bilibili Gaming Review
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