Two teams have already qualified – one European spot at Worlds is still up for grabs. From Friday, four teams in the LEC will be fighting for their last chance at Worlds.
Europe has just one spot left to fill at the League of Legends Worlds. Four teams are battling it out to follow in the footsteps of G2 Esports and Karmine Corp – for three of them, the dream of the World Championship will soon be over.
GIANTX, Natus Vincere, Team Vitality and Movistar KOI head into the decisive phase of the LEC play-offs with varying prospects. For some, qualifying would be the long-awaited next step; for others, it would be the salvation of what has been a strong season so far.
GIANTX and NAVI are looking to take the next step
GIANTX has been among the top tier of European teams for some time now, but is still waiting for its big breakthrough. With a few exceptions, the team has consistently finished near the top in recent splits, yet has repeatedly narrowly missed out on international competitions. A pattern has thus emerged: GIANTX are regularly close to the mark, but have so far failed to replicate their generally strong performances in the decisive matches.
It has been a mixed year for Natus Vincere. A strong start, finishing second in the first league phase, was followed by weaker results. In the summer, they only managed fifth place, narrowly qualifying for the play-offs. One player in the spotlight is mid-laner Sung-won ‘Poby’ Yoon: the former T1 Academy player temporarily stepped in for Sang-hyeok ‘Faker’ Lee in the first team in 2023 and moved to Fnatic in Europe last year amid high expectations. There, he qualified straight away for his first World Championship before moving to NAVI in the winter. However, he has so far been unable to take the next step he had hoped for with his new team.
MKOI vs Vitality: a high-stakes clash
The second clash also promises to be a thriller: Movistar KOI were consistently among the top four teams in Europe for much of the year, but their form collapsed in the summer. During the league stage, the Spaniards slipped to sixth place. The well-established squad only just managed to secure a place in the league and were fortunate that Fnatic lost their final match. Otherwise, they would have been eliminated from the race for Worlds ahead of schedule. As recently as 2025, MKOI had won the league phase, went on to finish as European runners-up and comfortably qualified for the World Championship.
Now they face Vitality – of all teams – who finished second in this year’s summer league phase. Overall, the team had a strong year: in the Winter Split league phase, Vitality finished third, before the French side even managed to take top spot in the Spring Split. However, the 2026 play-offs were a series of disappointments: they were knocked out very early on in both the Winter and Spring Splits. Especially against MKOI, who are usually strong in the play-offs, they will need to reproduce their league form.
The winners of both series will face off on 18 September from 5 pm. The winner will secure the final European spot at Worlds and follow Karmine Corp into the semi-finals. G2 then awaits in the Summer Split final on 20 September.
Worlds field filling up – nine places still up for grabs
Internationally, the field is taking shape. From Korea, Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, defending champions T1 and Dplus Kia have qualified. From the Pacific region, Team Secret Whales and CTBC Flying Oyster are in the running. Bilibili Gaming, last year’s Chinese World Championship runners-up, are also back in the running.
In total, there are still nine places up for grabs for the World Championship. Final decisions are also pending in North America, China and Brazil. At the same time, Riot Games is planning its next international competition and has announced another League of Legends World Championship.
