LoL: Europe Shines Against Korea in 2026 As NA Struggles To Keep Pace
In 2026, Europe has had its best results against the East in LoL Esports history. While their losses to North America may overshadow their achievements, EU has a winning record against South Korea this year. Meanwhile, NA has the LEC’s number but has its worst head-to-head against the East since 2023 — here I will break down the key statistics that show this.
EU’s winning record against Korea in 2026
After years of Europe being a shell of its former self, G2 Esports reignited the spark at First Stand 2026. Beforehand, the last time a European team won a Bo5 against the LPL or LCK was in 2024 as G2 beat Top Esports at the Mid-Season Invitational. The last time they’d beaten a Korean opponent went all the way back to Worlds 2020.
Coming into First Stand 2026, G2 played a shaky match against Team Secret Whales before Bilibili Gaming obliterated them. At the time, nobody predicted what would unfold next.
G2 went up against BNK FearX and beat them 3-0. Not only was it the first Bo5 victory for Europe against Korea since 2020, it was also the second ever 3-0. In 2025, the LCK didn’t suffer a single series loss to any non-Korean team.
The LEC champions could retire their run here and return home with their heads held high. Their next challenge would be much greater, as they would battle a Gen.G at the peak of their form.
Since 2024, Gen.G had been the best team in the world for 11 months per year, only stumbling each Worlds. Winter 2026 was their best split even by their standards, as they went 8-0 through the LCK Cup. When they faced G2, they had lost a total of two games all split long, out of 28.
G2 beat them 3-0. The representative from a region quenched of any success pulled off the largest upset in LoL Esports history.
This lit the path for more of those wins, turning the one-of-a-kind event into the norm for 2026. G2 beat T1 at MSI, and Karmine Corp followed in their footsteps by defeating them at the Esports World Cup, becoming the second Western team to do so.
One final tournament remains to give it all meaning, and it will be covered extensively at LoL betting sites.
Image Credit: Bruno Alvares
EU has its best ever head-to-head against the East in 2026
With three out of four international tournaments done, EU has a winning record against both Korea and the whole East in 2026.
| Record against | Match record | Game record |
|---|---|---|
| LCK | 4-3 | 11-11 |
| LPL | 2-2 | 6-10 |
| LCP | 3-1 | 9-3 |
| East | 9-6 | 26-24 |
(Bo1s count towards the game record, not the match record)
During MSI, the LCS earned bragging rights by finally having one stat go their way against the LEC. While this was only MSI and EU still has a winning record against NA when counting all tournaments, they take what trophy they can. However, when looking at the stats against the East, the picture looks grim again for the LCS.
Here are EU’s and NA’s respective all-time stats against the LPL and LCK across Riot events in LoL.
| Year | EU vs LPL/LCK (Match score) | EU vs LPL/LCK (Game score) | NA vs LPL/LCK (Match score) | NA vs LPL/LCK (Game score) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2-1 | 5-6 | 0-1 | 0-5 |
| 2013 | 0-1 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 0-6 |
| 2014 | 0-1 | 2-10 | 0-3 | 6-15 |
| 2015 | 1-3 | 9-17 | 0-0 | 2-8 |
| 2016 | 0-1 | 3-13 | 0-2 | 6-14 |
| 2017 | 1-3 | 8-21 | 0-1 | 5-12 |
| 2018 | 2-3 | 13-18 | 1-0 | 7-11 |
| 2019 | 3-3 | 17-20 | 1-0 | 4-14 |
| 2020 | 1-2 | 9-14 | 0-0 | 2-8 |
| 2021 | 0-2 | 7-18 | 0-1 | 4-12 |
| 2022 | 0-2 | 5-20 | 0-1 | 1-18 |
| 2023 | 0-7 | 6-22 | 0-5 | 1-18 |
| 2024 | 1-7 | 9-21 | 0-5 | 4-16 |
| 2025 | 1-8 | 8-22 | 0-5 | 4-15 |
| 2026 | 4-4 | 13-15 | 0-6 | 3-18 |
So far, this is Europe’s best ever record against the LPL and LCK (same results against the East), and NA’s worst since 2023. The question is: will this record hold at Worlds 2026?
Featured Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff
Ben is the Lead Editor at Win.gg, bringing a decade of iGaming industry experience having worked for both the operator and affiliation sides. With a formal journalism background, he is responsible for ensuring that every piece of content that we publish is relevant, accurate and well-written. In his own time, he enjoys playing video games and especially enjoys Rockstar titles, considering Red Dead Redemption 2 the finest title ever made. He has also spent a lot of time playing GTA V over the years and is fascinated by how streaming is changing the landscape of the industry.
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