League of Legends Set for Esports Nations Cup 2026

League of Legends will probably be a part of the Esports Nations Cup, a world nationwide crew competitors going down November 2–29 in Saudi Arabia, in response to studies.

The event marks a brand new initiative beneath the Esports World Cup branding, giving nations the possibility to compete in a world format much like conventional sporting occasions.

ENC 2026 Anticipated to Function 24–32 Nationwide Groups

Sheep Esports studies that the League of Legends event at ENC 2026 will characteristic between 24 and 32 nationwide groups. That is based mostly on introduced codecs for Counter-Strike 2, Cellular Legends: Bang Bang, and Rainbow Six Siege.

Half of the taking part nations will obtain direct invites based mostly on gamers’ annual efficiency and international leaderboard rankings. The Esports World Cup Basis (EWCF) will finalize the rankings throughout summer time 2026, simply earlier than continental qualification tournaments start.

The remaining spots will probably be determined via continental qualifiers and wildcard slots. Continental qualifiers are anticipated to observe patterns established for different introduced titles, although the EWCF has not but confirmed particular regional breakdowns for League of Legends.

Three-Participant-Per-Membership Rule Prevents Roster Stacking

No nation could ship greater than three gamers from the identical membership to Saudi Arabia, in response to laws revealed by the Esports World Cup Basis. For instance, T1’s full roster can’t symbolize South Korea, and no European nation can ship 4 gamers from the identical group.

Every nation is allowed two substitutes. The three-player membership restriction additionally applies to substitute gamers.

The membership restriction will come into impact between three and 6 months earlier than qualifiers start. Gamers should maintain the passport of the nation they symbolize for at the very least one full 12 months previous to the roster lock, set for April 30 at 11:59 PM AST. Coaches have to be chosen earlier than March 29, 2026.

Format Differs From Asian Video games and Overwatch World Cup

The three-player restriction operates equally to the initially deliberate Rainbow Six World Cup, which by no means happened and would have restricted groups to 2 gamers per group.

Nevertheless, it differs considerably from different national-themed occasions. The Overwatch World Cup makes use of hand-picked gamers chosen via neighborhood votes, with no membership restrictions. The 2023 Asian Video games featured League of Legends nationwide groups with no participant limitations, permitting South Korea to discipline three T1 gamers alongside two JD Gaming gamers.

Main areas akin to China and South Korea will doubtless discipline robust nationwide groups drawn from the League of Legends Professional League (LPL) and League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), respectively.

Europe presents a very fascinating situation, as many international locations have established nationwide leagues. Nations akin to France and Spain may discipline aggressive rosters, whereas smaller international locations could must qualify via continental tournaments.