Worlds 2021, League of Legends’ biggest international tournament of the year, is finally here.
After two regular seasons of local and regional competition, 22 of the best teams will battle it out in Reykjavik, Iceland, the same city where the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational was held.
Reigning champions DAMWON KIA from the LCK are back, this time led by legendary head coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun who previously won three World Championships with SK Telecom T1. Can they defend their title, or will another team rise up?
What is League of Legends Worlds 2021?
The annual League of Legends World Championship organized by developers Riot Games is the largest global tournament in LoL esports.
This year, top teams from 11 regions will compete for the title of World Champion, prize money, and of course, the chance to lift the Summoner’s Cup — one of the most iconic trophies in esports.
Hundreds of League of Legends pro teams have been competing across the globe in two regular season splits throughout the year to earn points, or qualify through the Summer Split playoffs and regionals.
This is why I cried after listening to the Worlds 2020 orchestral theme song
AR glasses will let you watch Worlds 2020 as if you were really there
Worlds 2021 schedule, results, scores, standings
Worlds 2021 will take place from October 5 to November 6, 2021.
The Play-Ins Stage will run from October 5 to 9, while Group Stage will run from October 11 to 13, and 15 to 18. All dates and times are in GMT, GMT+8, and PST.
The Knockout Stage is scheduled as follows:
Quarterfinals: October 22 to 25
Semifinals: October 30 to 31
Grand final: November 6
Knockout Stage
Bracket of the Worlds 2021 Knockout Stage
Screenshot by Joseph Asuncion/ONE Esports
Quarterfinals results
TEAM SCORE TEAM
Hanwha Life Esports 0 — 3 T1
Edward Gaming 3 — 2 Royal Never Give Up
DWG KIA 3 — 0 MAD Lions
Gen.G 3 — 0 Cloud9
Semifinals
Edward Gaming vs Gen.G on October 30 at 12 p.m. GMT | 8 p.m. GMT+8 | 5 a.m. PST
T1 vs DWG KIA on October 31 at 12 p.m. GMT | 8 p.m. GMT+8 | 5 a.m. PST
Grand final
TBD vs TBD on November 6 at 12 p.m. GMT | 8 p.m. GMT+8 | 5 a.m. PST
Group Stage
GROUP A GROUP B GROUP C GROUP D
DWG KIA Edward Gaming PSG Talon MAD Lions
FunPlus Phoenix 100 Thieves Fnatic Gen.G
Rogue T1 Royal Never Give Up Team Liquid
Cloud9 DetonatioN FocusMe Hanwha Life Esports LNG Esports
Group Stage standings
Results of the Worlds 2021 Group Stage
Screenshot by Joseph Asuncion/ONE Esports
GROUP A GROUP B
DWG KIA (6-0) T1 (5-1)
Cloud9 (3-4) Edward Gaming (4-2)
Rogue (3-5) 100 Thieves (3-3)
FunPlus Phoenix (2-5) DetonatioN FocusMe (0-6)
GROUP C GROUP D
Royal Never Give Up (5-2) Gen.G (5-3)
Hanwha Life Esports (4-3) MAD Lions (4-4)
PSG Talon (3-3) LNG Esports (3-4)
Fnatic (1-5) Team Liquid (3-4)
Group Stage results
Day 1
TEAM SCORE 토토사이트 TEAM
DWG KIA 1 — 0 FunPlus Phoenix
Royal Never Give Up 1 — 0 PSG Talon
Hanwha Life Esports 1 — 0 Fnatic
LNG Esports 0 — 1 Gen.G
DetonatioN FocusMe 0 — 1 T1
Edward Gaming 1 — 0 100 Thieves
Team Liquid 1 — 0 MAD Lions
Cloud9 0 — 1 Rogue
Day 2
TEAM SCORE TEAM
T1 0 — 1 Edward Gaming
Rogue 0 — 1 DWG KIA
PSG Talon 1 — 0 Hanwha Life Esports
Fnatic 0 — 1 Royal Never Give Up
Cloud9 0 — 1 FunPlus Phoenix
DetonatioN FocusMe 0 — 1 100 Thieves
MAD Lions 1 — 0 Gen.G
Team Liquid 0 — 1 LNG Esports
Day 3
TEAM SCORE TEAM
Hanwha Life Esports 0 — 1 Royal Never Give Up
LNG Esports 1 — 0 MAD Lions
FunPlus Phoenix 1 — 0 Rogue
PSG Talon 1 — 0 Fnatic
Gen.G 1 — 0 Team Liquid
Cloud9 0 — 1 DWG KIA
DetonatioN FocusMe 0 — 1 Edward Gaming
100 Thieves 0 — 1 T1
Day 4, Group A
TEAM SCORE TEAM
FunPlus Phoenix 0 — 1 DWG KIA
Cloud9 1 — 0 Rogue
Cloud9 1 — 0 FunPlus Phoenix
DWG KIA 1 — 0 Rogue
Rogue 1 — 0 FunPlus Phoenix
Cloud9 0 — 1 DWG KIA
[Tiebreaker 1] FunPlus Phoenix 0 — 1 Rogue
[Tiebreaker 2] Rogue 0 — 1 Cloud9
Day 5, Group B
TEAM SCORE TEAM
DetonatioN FocusMe 0 — 1 Edward Gaming
T1 1 — 0 100 Thieves
Edward Gaming 0 — 1 T1
DetonatioN FocusMe 0 — 1 100 Thieves
DetonatioN FocusMe 0 — 1 T1
100 Thieves 1 — 0 Edward Gaming
Day 6, Group C
TEAM SCORE TEAM
Hanwha Life Esports 1 — 0 PSG Talon
Royal Never Give Up 0 — 1 Fnatic
PSG Talon 0 — 1 Royal Never Give Up
Hanwha Life Esports 1 — 0 Fnatic
Hanwha Life Esports 1 — 0 Royal Never Give Up
Fnatic 0 — 1 PSG Talon
[Tiebreaker] Hanwha Life Esports 0 — 1 Royal Never Give Up
Day 7, Group D
TEAM SCORE TEAM
Gen.G 1 — 0 MAD Lions
LNG Esports 0 — 1 Team Liquid
LNG Esports 1 — 0 Gen.G
MAD Lions 1 — 0 Team Liquid
Team Liquid 1 — 0 Gen.G
LNG Esports 0 — 1 MAD Lions
[Tiebreaker 1] Team Liquid 0 — 1 Gen.G
[Tiebreaker 2] LNG Esports 0 — 1 MAD Lions
[Tiebreaker 3] Gen.G 1 — 0 MAD Lions
Play-In Stage Standings
GROUP A STANDINGS GROUP B STANDINGS
[Qualified] LNG Esports (4-0) [Qualified] Detonation FocusMe (4-1)
Hanwha Life Esports (3-1) Cloud9 (3-2)
PEACE (2-2) Galatasaray Esports (2-2)
RED Kalunga (1-3) Beyond Gaming (2-3)
[Eliminated] Infinity Esports (0-3) [Eliminated] Unicorns of Love (1-4)
Play-In Stage schedule, scores, and results
October 5 (Tuesday)
TEAM SCORE TEAM
Hanwha Life Esports 0 — 1 LNG Esports
Infinity Esports 0 — 1 RED Kalunga
LNG Esports 1 — 0 PEACE
Hanwha Life Esports 1 — 0 Infinity Esports
Unicorns of Love 0 — 1 DetonatioN FocusMe
October 6 (Wednesday)
TEAM SCORE TEAM
Galatasaray Esports 1 — 0 Beyond Gaming
Detonation FocusMe 0 — 1 Cloud9
Unicorns of Love 0 — 1 Galatasaray Esports
PEACE 0 — 1 Hanwha Life Esports
RED Kalunga 0 — 1 LNG Esports
Infinity Esports 0 — 1 PEACE
RED Kalunga 0 — 1 Hanwha Life Esports
Beyond Gaming 0 — 1 Cloud9
October 7 (Thursday)
TEAM SCORE TEAM
Galatasaray Esports 0 — 1 DetonatioN FocusMe
Beyond Gaming 1 — 0 Unicorns of Love
Cloud9 1 — 0 Galatasaray Esports
LNG Esports 1 — 0 Infinity Esports
PEACE 1 — 0 RED Kalunga
DetonatioN FocusMe 1 — 0 Beyond Gaming
Cloud9 0 — 1 Unicorns of Love
[Tiebreaker] Beyond Gaming 0 — 1 Unicorns of Love
[Tiebreaker] Cloud9 0 — 1 DetonatioN FocusMe
Worlds 2021 Play-In Stage Knockouts brackets
Credit: Riot Games
Play-In Knockout Stage
8 October (Friday)
TEAM SCORE TEAM
Beyond Gaming 3 — 2 Galatasaray Esports
9 October (Saturday)
TEAM SCORE TEAM
RED Kalunga 2 — 3 PEACE
Beyond Gaming 0 — 3 Hanwha Life Esports
10 October (Sunday)
TEAM SCORE TEAM
PEACE 0 — 3 Cloud9
Hanwha Life Esports and Cloud9 have qualified for the Group Stage.
Format of Worlds 2021
There are three stages to the competition: Play-In Stage, Group Stage, and the Knockout Stage.
Play-In Stage
League of Legends Worlds 2021 Play-ins format
Credit: Riot Games/LoL Esports
In the Play-In Stage, 10 teams will be drawn into two groups. The first seed of CBLOL, LJL, LCO, LCO, LLA, and TCL, the second seed of PCS, the third seed of LCS, and the fourth seed of LCK and LPL regions are among the 10.
The top team of each group immediately qualifies for the Group Stage.
The third and fourth-placed teams in each group will battle it out in a best-of-five series. The winner then challenges the second-placed team of each group in another best-of-five to fight for the remaining two spots in Groups.
GROUP A GROUP B
Hanwha Life Esports Beyond Gaming
LNG Esports Cloud9
Infinity Unicorns of Love
PEACE Galatasaray Esports
RED Kalunga DetonatioN FocusMe
Group Stage
League of Legends Worlds 2021 Group Stage format
Credit: Riot Games/LoL Esports
A total of 16 teams, including the four that qualified from the Play-In Stage, will be drawn into four groups of four (A, B, C, and D).
Among these Group Stage teams are the first and second seed of LCK, LPL, LEC, and LCS regions, and the first seed of PCS.
The Group Stage will be held in a double round-robin format, where each team plays against other teams twice. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the Knockout Stage.
Worlds 2021 Group Stage teams
Credit: Riot Games
Knockout Stage
League of Legends Worlds 2021 playoffs format is single elimination
Credit: Riot Games/LoL Esports
The Knockout Stage comprises the playoffs’ quarterfinals and semifinals matches, and the grand final. The top 8 teams will compete in best-of-fives matches in a single-elimination format.
Teams competing at Worlds 2021
22 teams from 11 regions have qualified for the League of Legends tournament. Two teams, GAM Esports and Saigon Buffalo from the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) were not able to compete due to pandemic restrictions.
REGION TEAM
LCK (Korea) DWG KIA
Gen.G
T1
Hanwha Life Esports
LCS (North America) 100 Thieves
Team Liquid
Cloud9
LEC (Europe) Rogue
MAD Lions
Fnatic
LPL (China) FunPlus Phoenix
Edward Gaming
Royal Never Give Up
LNG Esports
PCS (Pacific Asia) Beyond Gaming
PSG Talon
LJL (Japan) Detonation FocusMe
TCL (Turkey) Galatasaray Esports
LCL (CIS) Unicorns of Love
LLA (Latin America) Infinity Esports
LCO (Oceania) PEACE
CBLOL (Brazil) RED Kalunga
Where will Worlds 2021 be held?
Laugardalshöll indoor sporting arena, Hall A, in Reykjavik, Iceland
Credit: Helgi Halldórsson
League of Legends Worlds 2021 will be held at the Laugardalshöll indoor sporting arena, Hall A, in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Worlds 2021 prize pool
The 2019, and 2020 League of Legends World Championship and this year’s Worlds 2021 will offer the same prize pool of $2,225,000, split among 22 teams and the two VCS teams, GAM Esports and Saigon Buffalo, who are unable to compete.
The prize pool breakdown is as follows:
(Updated September 27)
World Champion: 22%
2nd place: 15%
3rd to 4th: 8%
5th to 8th: 4.5%
9th to `12th: 2.5%
13th to 16th: 2.25%
17th to 18th: 1.75%
19th to 20th: 1.25%
21st to 22nd: 1%
VCS teams: TBD
Where to watch Worlds 2021?
League of Legends, DAMWON Gaming, Worlds 2020 skins, splash art
League of Legends esports fans can watch the 2021 World Championship matches live on Riot Games’