Eight nations meet at the Aichi Sky Expo from 29 September to 2 October for the League of Legends event of the 20th Asian Games. South Korea defend their title with a roster built around T1's 2024 core, less than two weeks before Worlds.

Eight nations, two invitations

South Korea and Chinese Taipei qualified directly as gold and silver medallists from Hangzhou 2022. The six other nations came through the Kuala Lumpur qualifier in June. Vietnam and Hong Kong topped it, and India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia took the remaining places.

South Korea field Choi "Zeus" Woo-je, Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyung and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok, with Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo as substitute. Four of them won Worlds together with T1 in 2024. At the press conference after South Korea's exhibition match against Vietnam in Busan, Faker was asked about playing alongside Zeus and Gumayusi again:

It's a bit awkward playing together after a long time.

Head coach Kang "Hirai" Dong-hoon has Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu and Kim "Rascal" Kwang-hee as performance analysts. Both are still doing their military service and got special leave to be there. They gain nothing from it, since only the players who compete receive the exemption that comes with gold.

deft asian games

Chinese Taipei are the main challengers, led by Yu "JunJia" Chun-chia and Tsai "HongQ" Ming-hong. Vietnam build around the Secret Whales core, with Lê "SofM" Quang Duy on the coaching staff. Hong Kong count on Ling "Kaiwing" Kai Wing and Li "1xn" Sau Nam.

Format and schedule

The eight teams are split into two groups of four and play a single round robin of best-of-ones. The top two in each group reach the semi-finals.

  • Group A (29 September): Vietnam, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
  • Group B (30 September): South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India
  • Semi-finals (1 October): best-of-three
  • Bronze medal match and final (2 October): final in best-of-five

The draw was not seeded, so the 2022 finalists meet in the group stage.

Thirteen days before Worlds

Worlds 2026 opens on 15 October in Los Angeles, thirteen days after the gold medal match. All six Korean players are going with Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports or T1, and the LCK shortened its season to make room for the national team. South Korea won both of their preparation best-of-fives, against the United States and Vietnam, in Busan on 19 and 20 September. Secret Whales and CTBC Flying Oyster also have players in Aichi and a Worlds spot waiting.

worlds cup
Photo Credit: Riot Games

Faker, Zeus and Keria have been exempt from military service since Hangzhou. Canyon, Gumayusi and Zeka still have that exemption to win.

One favourite missing

China are not in the field, and no official explanation has been given. A full-strength LPL selection would have been South Korea's main threat for gold.