First Stand 2026 — new details of the international League of Legends season
During the press conference at Worlds 2025, Riot Games revealed the first details about the international tournaments in 2026. The main takeaway is clear — expanded formats and a wider global reach.
First Stand 2026 will take place from March 16 to 22 in São Paulo, Brazil. The tournament is getting a major upgrade: instead of the usual five participants, there will now be eight. Additional slots are granted to CBLOL, LCK and LPL, raising the overall level of competition. All series at First Stand will be played in a full Bo5 format, turning every match into a high-stakes battle with no room for mistakes.
Riot also clarified an important point: even if CBLOL performs better than any other region at First Stand, it will not receive an extra slot for MSI. The Mid-Season Invitational slot distribution remains fixed and will not be influenced by the results of the first international tournament of the season.
The next major event is MSI 2026, which will take place in Daejeon, South Korea — the city will host a global LoL tournament for the first time.
The final stop of the season is Worlds 2026. The World Championship is returning to North America, but this time the tournament will take place in only two cities. Allen, Texas will host the play-in, Swiss stage and playoffs, while the Grand Final will be held in New York.
The improvements to First Stand are definitely exciting: more teams, more matches, and more storylines to follow. The first edition of the event felt rather underwhelming — Hanwha Life Esports dominated without facing any real resistance. In 2026, the competition is expected to be much tougher.
Kirill is a writer of articles and blogs at eGamersWorld, having joined the team in 2024. His primary focus is analytics and crafting content about esports. With years of experience in gaming, Kirill brings deep industry insights to deliver high-quality and engaging materials.
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