Will Gen.G be able to defend their crown? Or will another team make it to the top? Only time will tell. Here's what you need to know about League of Legends at this year's Esports World Cup.
League of Legends esports will be featured in this year’s Esports World Cup (EWC) and have a prize pool of $2 million. A total of 16 teams will duke it out for glory. Read on for everything to know about League of Legends at EWC 2026.
League of Legends enters Esports World Cup 2026
According to the EWC, the road to the event will include multiple regional champions. Joining Gen.G on the stage will be top teams from the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), League of Legends Pro League (LPL), League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), League Championship Series (LCS), Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL), and League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) circuits. There will also be regional qualifiers on the road to the event.
LoL at EWC 2026 teams
Teams joining Gen.G
- Winner of the LCK Road to MSI tournament (concludes on June 14)
- Winner of LPL 2026 Split 2 (concludes in June)
- Winner of LEC Spring (concludes in June)
- Winner of LCS Spring (concludes in June)
- Winner of CBLOL Split 1 (concludes in June)
- Winner of LCP Split 2 (concludes on June 7)
Regional qualifiers
- Korea Qualifier (2 slots)
- China Qualifier (2)
- EMEA Qualifier (2)
- North America Qualifier (1)
- South America + LATAM Qualifier (1)
- APAC Qualifier (1)
LoL at EWC 2026: Teams to watch
Gen.G at EWC 2025 faced a difficult path to victory. The team started directly in the playoffs and encountered increasingly challenging matches. In the grand finals, they duked it out against All Gamers and narrowly avoided a reverse sweep. However, the team is strong as its players took home the gold in the 2024 and 2025 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) tournament. Gen.G also earned multiple seasonal LCK titles. Will Gen.G be able to defend their crown? Or will another team make it to the top? Only time will tell.
In terms of another team to keep an eye on, G2 Esports players are powerhouses in Western League of Legends. The team has veterans like Sergen “BrokenBlade” Çelik, Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther, and Steven “Hans Sama” Liv. In LEC Versus, they dominated the playoffs with sweeps against Heretics, Karmine Corp, and Movistar KOI. G2 Esports then defeated Karmine Corp again in the grand final to qualify for The First Stand.
However, Bilibili Gaming claimed victory at The First Stand in a grand final against G2 Esports, giving them momentum going into EWC 2026.
Of course, T1 will be looking to reclaim some glory. The team won EWC 2024, but weren’t able to defend the title against Gen.G last year. After fighting hard to earn a spot in Worlds 2025, T1 took home the gold. The team also made esports history as according to Esports Charts, the T1 versus KT Rolster showdown reached a peak viewership of 6.7 million.
That’s all for now. Which teams are you rooting for? Which ones do you think will make it to this year’s EWC?
League of Legends at EWC 2026 will kick off on July 15. Until then, stick around on esports.gg for more news and updates.