Riot Games reveals Worlds 2021 dates, location, and format

William Davis Published 09/09/2021

The last important details of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship are finally here. 

In a recent announcement by Riot Games, it was revealed that Worlds 2021 will be held from October 5 to November 6. The event will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland, following the recent relocation of the event from China due to travel issues. This will be the second international LoL event in Iceland this year after the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, which was won by the LPL’s Royal Never Give Up. 

For Worlds 2021, the final will be hosted in the refurbished Hall A at the Laugardalshöll, which is an indoor sporting arena in Reykjavik. MSI 2021 was hosted in Hall B, so the location will be pretty much the exact same. This also means that there won’t be any live audience for this year’s championship. 

“While maintaining our focus on ensuring the health and safety of everyone involved in hosting, producing, and competing at the event, Worlds 2021 will not host a live audience,” Riot said.   

Worlds 2021 format revealed

With the Worlds 2021 location and teams in place, Riot also revealed the format for the tournament which is similar to last year’s format. 

Originally, Worlds 2021 was supposed to have a total of 24 teams but this has been cut down to 22 due to the fact that the VCS teams can’t participate, just like last year. This is once again due to travel restrictions, which will have Riot removing the two Vietnamese teams. 

As per usual, there will be a play-in stage where the lowest seeds of the major regions and wildcard regions get to clash for a shot at qualifying for the group stage of the tournament. The play-ins will run from October 5 to 9 and will feature 10 teams. 

These 10 teams will be drawn into two groups of five, which will be played out in a single round-robin format. The top team from each group will move on to the group stage automatically while seeds three and four will play out a best-of-five, with the winners challenging the second seed from the opposing group for the last two spots.

Moving onto the group stage, there will be 16 teams just like in previous years. These teams will be drawn into four groups with the top two advancing to the knockout stage. The knockout stage will be an eight-team, single-elimination playoffs with the grand finals taking place on November 6. 

Read Also

Esports Betting

Top Esports beats Team WE in the LPL, qualifies for MSI 2026 Wasif Ahmed Against all odds, Top Esports faced Team WE in the LPL upper bracket final. Both teams fought over a spot for the Mid-Season Invitational that everyone expected Anyone’s Legend, Bilibili Gaming, or JD Gaming to claim. In the end, TES paused WE’s Cinderella story as they beat them 3-0. Before this series, World Elite had defeated two LPL powerhouses in BLG and AL. Against TES, though, they suddenly lost all ...

League of Legends

G2 Esports complete comeback against Karmine Corp to win LEC Spring 2026 Hannan Mundia After a fairly smooth split, G2 Esports emerged victorious in the 2026 LEC Spring split grand final by making a comeback against Karmine Corp. The 2026 LEC Spring split has finally concluded. With spots at MSI and the Esports World Cup on the line, every professional European team gave it their all to get as far as they could. While most teams fell quickly, Karmine Corp and G2 Esports managed ...

Esports Betting

G2 Esports vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Spring: Best odds, picks Hannan Mundia The 2026 LEC Spring split is about to conclude, with G2 Esports and Karmine Corp facing off one last time to see which team qualifies for the Esports World Cup. While both teams have done well to make it to this LEC split’s grand final, only one team can be crowned the victor. With a direct ticket to the EWC on the line, there’s a strong chance that G2’s dominating ...

Esports Betting

MKOI vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Spring betting preview: Best odds and picks Hannan Mundia Two LEC spots are open for this year’s Mid-Season Invitational, and MKOI will battle against Karmine Corp to determine which team grabs it. The ongoing LEC Spring split is almost done, and only three teams remain. While G2 Esports has already established itself as the strongest so far with a guaranteed spot in the grand final, Movistar KOI and Karmine Corp will battle it out on the big stage for ...

League of Legends

LCK 2026 Road to MSI: Teams, format, and schedule Hannan Mundia With the LCK 2026 Rounds 1-2 complete, the qualified teams will battle it out in Road to MSI. With two spots for the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational and one spot for the 2026 Esports World Cup on the line, here’s everything to know about the LCK 2026 Road to MSI. Six teams have qualified for Road to MSI, but only two MSI spots are available for this region. While powerhouse teams ...

Esports Betting

KT Rolster vs T1 2026 LCK Season Rounds 1-2: Best odds and picks Hannan Mundia KT Rolster and T1 will face off in the last week of 2026 LCK Rounds 1-2 to potentially improve their starting position at Road to MSI. KT Rolster and T1 have both had their moment to shine in the ongoing 2026 LCK split. With one week remaining, the two teams will battle against each other for a chance at acquiring second place and starting with a significant advantage in the ...

Esports Betting

EWC officially heads to Paris for 2026 as early reports confirmed Michael Hassall The Esports World Cup 2026 will take place in Paris, France from July later this year as per an new announcement by the EWC organizers, the Esports Foundation. Revealed in a post on their official social media, and an accompanying release and blog post, the announcement confirmed earlier speculation that the event would move location due to the “regional situation” around Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here’s the info: The Esports World ...