Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage Draw: All Round 1 Matchups as Karmine Corp Qualifies and T1 Faces LOS

The Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage field is complete. Karmine Corp beat MVK Esports 3-0 in the Play-In final on October 18 to take the last of 16 spots, and the Round 1 draw that followed sets up heavyweight openers such as Gen.G vs Invictus Gaming, G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA and T1 vs Brazil's LOS.

The Swiss Stage starts on October 23 in Allen, Texas. Here are all eight matchups, how the format works and what the road to the November 14 final looks like.

Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage Round 1 matchups

The draw was held at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles after the Play-In final. Teams from the same region could not be paired in Round 1, which produced these series:

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1. Gen.G (LCK) vs Invictus Gaming (LPL)
2. Team Liquid Alienware (LCS) vs CTBC Flying Oyster (LCP)
3. Anyone's Legend (LPL) vs Karmine Corp (LEC)
4. G2 Esports (LEC) vs Dplus KIA (LCK)
5. Hanwha Life Esports (LCK) vs Top Esports (LPL)
6. LOS (CBLOL) vs T1 (LCK)
7. Team Secret Whales (LCP) vs LYON (LCS)
8. Bilibili Gaming (LPL) vs Movistar KOI (LEC)

Two Korea-China clashes stand out in the opening round, plus Europe's top seed G2 against Dplus KIA. For Brazil, LOS draws the toughest possible test in T1, while Karmine Corp's reward for surviving the Play-In is LPL first seed Anyone's Legend.

By region, the Swiss Stage field is made up of four teams each from Korea's LCK (Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, T1 and Dplus KIA) and China's LPL (Anyone's Legend, Bilibili Gaming, Top Esports and Invictus Gaming), three from Europe's LEC (G2, Movistar KOI and Karmine Corp), two each from North America's LCS (Team Liquid Alienware and LYON) and the Asia-Pacific LCP (CTBC Flying Oyster and Team Secret Whales), and one from Brazil's CBLOL. With eight Korean and Chinese teams in a field of 16, the draw always had a good chance of producing LCK-LPL clashes on day one, and it delivered two.

How Karmine Corp won the Play-In

Four teams entered the double-elimination Play-In in Los Angeles: Karmine Corp, Cloud9 Kia, MVK Esports and FURIA. Karmine Corp beat Cloud9 Kia and then MVK on the upper side, and met MVK again in the final, where it won all three games in under 30 minutes each, according to GosuGamers. Cloud9 Kia and FURIA are out, which leaves North America and Brazil with two teams and one team in the Swiss Stage, respectively.

How the Worlds 2026 Swiss format works

According to Riot's official Worlds 2026 primer, the Swiss Stage runs over five rounds. Teams that reach three wins advance to the knockouts, and teams with three losses are eliminated. Only Round 1 is drawn by tier; from Round 2 on, teams are paired with others on the same record.

The early rounds are best-of-one, so an upset is always on the table. Series that can send a team through or knock it out are played as best-of-three.

Worlds 2026 schedule: dates and venues

• Swiss Stage: October 23-31, Credit Union of Texas Event Center, Allen, Texas.
• Quarterfinals and semifinals: November 3-8, Allen, Texas, all best-of-five.
• Final: Saturday, November 14, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.
• Worlds Fan Fest: November 12-14, Pier 36, Lower Manhattan.

All eight Round 1 games are expected on opening day, though the exact match order can still change before Thursday. The quarterfinal bracket will be drawn after the Swiss Stage, with the two 3-0 teams kept apart and paired against 3-2 teams.

What to watch next

Round 1 will quickly show whether the LCK and LPL can split the early pressure, and whether LOS can follow LOUD's VALORANT Champions title with another Brazilian run on a world stage. If the tournament makes you want to try the game yourself, League of Legends is free to play, and it sits alongside other options in our best free-to-play games guide.

Pick'Ems lock before each stage's first match, so fans who want to make their Swiss predictions on the official LoL Esports site have until October 23 to do it.