League of Legends announces international esports event locations for 2026 and 2027

Games developer Riot Games has unveiled the locations for its international League of Legends esports events in 2026 and 2027. 

Announced during League of Legends’ first dev blog of 2025, Riot Games’ Global Head of League of Legends Esports, Chris Greeley, and COO of Esports, Whalen Rozelle, revealed that the 2026 World Championship will take place in North America.

North America last hosted the League of Legends World Championship in 2022, with the event held across San Francisco, Atlanta, New York and Mexico City.

Moreover, fans from the continent won’t have to wait until 2026 for a League of Legends international event as it was announced last year that MSI 2025 will be held in Canada.

Also in 2026, League of Legends’ First Stand event will head to Brazil, making it the first time since MSI 2017 that the country will host an international League of Legends competition. Meanwhile, MSI 2026 will head to familiar grounds, taking place in South Korea. 

Regarding First Stand 2026 in Brazil, Rozelle stated: “Brazilian fans bring amazing energy to live events and we’re excited to kick off the season in such a vibrant esports community.”

For 2027, Greeley and Rozelle detailed that First Stand will head to Southeast Asia, with MSI returning to Europe and the League of Legends World Championship taking place in South Korea. 

Further details such as venues, dates and formats were not revealed. 

The announcement, which included information on gameplay updates and in-game cosmetics, also showcased the upcoming changes for League of Legends esports in 2025. Notably, all major League of Legends competitions will feature three splits for the year, with each split having an international event. 

As such, this has led to a variety of format changes, the introduction of First Stand and the creation of two new leagues, the LCP (Pacific) and LTA (Americas).

Alongside MSI 2025 in Canada, First Stand will make its debut in Seoul, South Korea, whilst Worlds 2025 is heading to China.