Worlds, MSI, and First Stand 2026 locations revealed

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 07/11/2025

Riot has revealed the locations for League of Legends’ 2026 international events, naming the locations of its First Stand, MSI, and Worlds 2026 events.

Riot has also announced format changes for First Stand, increasing the number of teams at the event.

League of Legends 2026 international locations

First Stand 2026 will kick off the international League calendar, and the event will take place in São Paulo, Brazil.

The event is the first time a Tier 1 international tournament has taken place in Brazil since the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational, which also took place in São Paulo.

Next up, the Mid-Season Invitational 2026 will take place in Daejeon, South Korea.

Will the South Korean fans see a rematch of the MSI 2024 Grand Final, which saw the LCK colossi of Gen.G and T1 contest a five-game classic?

The League of Legends World Championship will take place in the United States, however, it will only feature two cities this time.

Allen, Texas, and New York City will be the hosts of LoL Worlds 2026.

NA will be hoping for a better performance from its home teams after a bruising Worlds 2025.

First Stand 2026 – Format changes

The Brazilian setting is a fitting one for First Stand 2026, following the re-establishment of the LCS and CBLOL.

The format expands from five to eight teams, with CBLOL and LCS each getting one spot, meaning Brazil will be represented in São Paulo.

The two additional spots will go to the number 2 seeds of the LCK and LPL.

First Stand has traditionally only been the winners of Split one of each region; however, the expansion will see the runners-up of the LCK Cup and LPL 2026 Split 1 join the action.

For 2026, the extra spots are formally for the two powerhouse Asian regions, but Riot are open to re-examining the distribution.

The event will feature full Fearless Best of 5 contests.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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