All four LPL teams lost their first match at the Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage, the first time that has happened in the opening round of a Worlds Swiss Stage, according to GosuGamers as cited by the report.
The Swiss Stage opened on October 23. Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, Dplus KIA and T1 won their matches, giving the LCK a 4-0 start in the round of eight best-of-one games. Two of the four Chinese defeats came against LCK teams. Europe accounted for the other two.
Gen.G beat Invictus Gaming after IG held a slight edge in the early stages, according to Hotspawn. Hanwha Life Esports beat Top Esports in a one-sided win, with Zeka on Locke the standout.
T1 closed out LØS in around 24 minutes, with Doran on Jayce and Oner on Lee Sin. Dplus KIA beat G2 Esports in a contested match, with SkewMond on Jarvan IV giving G2 a strong early game.
Movistar KOI stayed ahead of Bilibili Gaming for most of their game, despite some untidy teamfights. Karmine Corp beat Anyone's Legend, with the jungle and support pairing doing much of the damage. The LEC finished with two wins from three, and G2 was the only European side to lose.
CTBC Flying Oyster edged Team Liquid Alienware in a close game featuring Shad0w on Qiyana. LYON beat Team Secret Whales, with Berserker on Ezreal.
The 1-0 and 0-1 teams were redrawn for Round 2, the final best-of-one round of the stage. Dplus KIA meets T1 in an all-LCK match, Hanwha Life Esports plays Gen.G, CTBC Flying Oyster plays Movistar KOI, and LYON plays Karmine Corp. In the lower bracket, G2 plays LØS, Invictus Gaming plays Team Secret Whales, Top Esports plays Anyone's Legend, and Team Liquid Alienware plays Bilibili Gaming. Korea is guaranteed at least two teams on 2-0.
From Round 3 onwards, matches move to best-of-three with Fearless Draft. Three wins send a team to the Knockout Stage, and three losses end its Worlds.