Our 90/50/10 predictions for LoL esports in 2026

The League of Legends 2026 esports season is upon us. Teams from across the globe will battle to win the ultimate prize this year: the LoL World Championship. But who has the best chance of doing so? Worlds 2026 is just one of many LoL esports predictions we will make in this article. Join us for our 90/50/10 predictions. 

Across this LoL esports forecast, we will provide you with three predictions. The first has a 90% chance, then 50%, and 10%. The final prediction is unlikely in this case, but you never know with League of Legends — it’s full of surprises.

The LCK, or more importantly, T1, has run rampant over the World Championship for the past three years, and the League of Legends competitive scene, for that matter. Even when Bilibili Gaming looked to have brought the Summoners Cup back to China, Faker made one of the best plays of the tournament to snatch it away from the perceived best team in the world. 

Fast forward another year, and T1 still reigns supreme, even without Zeus. T1 made another roster shuffle this offseason, with superstar ADC Gumayusi moving to Hanwha Life. My prediction is this: either T1 will continue its incredible run, or Gumayusi will finally bring HLE to glory. 

North America versus Europe has finally had some legs to it over the past couple of years, with NA starting to topple its Western rivals. The two regions went back and forth last year, with G2 getting the last laugh over FlyQuest at Worlds. This year, however, I predict it will be a rough one for North America on the international stage.

While Europe’s top rosters leaped forward, even prizing away Busio, North America lost some heavy hitters. FlyQuest and Team Liquid were the region’s standard bearers, putting up very respectable international performances, with Europe unable to lay a glove on them. With TL and FlyQuest imploding last year, NA has lost two rosters built for international competitiveness. There’s the interesting LYON roster, but I don’t think it will last the year. Perhaps early on, it could make waves, but in the Western battle, Europe has at least taken control of offseason expectations. 

With Riot Games adjusting the number of teams it will be sending to First Stand in 2026, it’s hard to see a team that isn’t from the LCK or the LPL making it to the finals. Last year, we saw Karmine Corp make its first final in its international debut, but with the format changing to eight teams and all games best-of-five, it’s hard to see an upset on the cards.

From at least a North American point of view, the region hasn’t taken a best-of-five victory over an Eastern opponent since Team Liquid caused one of the biggest upsets in LoL history, defeating Invictus Gaming to make the 2019 MSI finals. The battle in the field could be more entertaining than the battle for first place. There will be a lot of parody, especially since one of the teams is a CBLoL representative. As for a non-LCK or LPL team making the finals? It’s doubtful outside of a complete collapse from the LPL.

To summarise it all, it looks like it’s going to be another year of Korean dominance. The main question will be, can anyone take down T1 and dethrone the team as World Champions? In the past three years, no one has had the answer, with BLG coming the closest in 2024. As for North America, it looks like it’s going to be a down year, which will be disappointing given that Worlds 2026 is coming to North America. There’s a lot to be excited for if you’re a European fan, with many teams making upgrades; now is the chance to firmly plant its feet as the third-best region in the world again. And who knows, if the LPL is on the way down, the number two spot could be up for grabs in the future.