All 11 teams confirmed for MSI 2026 as League of Legends heads to Daejeon

The roster for the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational is complete. All 11 teams have punched their tickets to Daejeon, South Korea, where they’ll battle for international League of Legends supremacy from June 28 to July 12.

MSI 2026 will be held at the Daejeon Convention Center II, marking the first time the city has hosted a major Riot Games international event.

Who’s in the field

The 11-team lineup draws from six competitive regions. Each of the five major regions sends two representatives: the LCK (Korea), LPL (China), LEC (EMEA), LCS (North America), and LCP (Asia-Pacific). Brazil’s CBLOL rounds out the field with a single qualifying team.

Qualification wrapped up between June 6 and June 13, with teams earning their spots through regional playoffs and championship points accumulated over the season. Team Secret Whales from the LCP were the earliest squad to lock in their berth, qualifying on May 10. G2 Esports followed on May 25, marking one of the more notable early entries from the European side.

Hanwha Life Esports were among the last to secure qualification, clinching their spot on June 12-13.

How the tournament works

MSI 2026 uses a structure that splits the competition into two phases. Four teams enter a Play-In stage run as a double-elimination bracket. The survivors advance to join the seven teams that qualified directly into the main bracket.

Why Daejeon matters

The city, located in the central part of the country, is better known for its science and technology sector than its esports venues. The 2026 MSI represents the 11th rendition of the event and highlights Daejeon as a host city beyond the commonly used hub of Seoul.

The two-week window from June 28 to July 12 positions MSI 2026 in a relatively uncrowded esports calendar spot.

What this means for the competitive landscape

The five-region, 11-team structure reinforces the current hierarchy of competitive League of Legends. The LCK and LPL remain the dominant forces, each sending two teams. The LEC, LCS, and LCP each send two representatives, while CBLOL contributes one team.

For fans and analysts tracking the competitive scene, the qualification timeline tells its own story. Teams that qualified early, like Team Secret Whales and G2 Esports, had weeks of preparation time to scout opponents and refine strategies. Late qualifiers like Hanwha Life Esports enter with less runway but potentially sharper competitive form from recent high-stakes matches.

The absence of any cryptocurrency or blockchain partnerships in the MSI 2026 announcements is worth noting for investors watching the esports sponsorship market. No references to cryptocurrencies or tokens appear in any official announcements regarding the MSI 2026.

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