Bilibili Gaming defeat T1 to advance to Worlds 2026 grand finals

Bilibili Gaming defeated defending champions T1 3-1 in the League of Legends World Championship 2026 semifinals on Monday, advancing to the grand finals.

With the victory, BLG have guaranteed themselves at least a second place finish and $800,000 in winnings, though they will be looking to claim their first Summoner's Cup and the $1 million grand prize against Gen.G.

T1 bow out of Worlds 2026 in 3rd-4th place and will take home $400,000, their campaign for a historic fourth straight Summoner's Cup and the organization's seventh world championship overall falling short.

BLG won the opening game of the semifinals, though T1 were quick to strike back in game two.

BLG then looked levels above the defending champions in the next two games, as they secured their spot in the Worlds 2026 grand finals with a 3-1 victory.

The series was a rematch of the Worlds 2025 grand finals, which T1 won.

BLG entered Worlds 2026 as the second seed of the LPL and were arguably the most internationally successful team this season after winning the 2026 First Stand Tournament and finishing second in this year's Mid-Season Invitational.

They did not have the most auspicious start to the Swiss Stage, as they fell in an upset to Movistar KOI in Round 1.

Movistar KOI stunned Bilibili Gaming in their opening match of the Swiss Stage.

BLG bounced back by defeating Team Liquid Alienware and Karmine Corp in the next two rounds, but fell to regional rivals Top Esports in a 2-1 reverse sweep in Round 4, forcing them to a do-or-die match.

There, BLG swept Hanwha Life Esports to reach the main event.

In the Knockout Stage quarterfinals, BLG swept Dplus KIA.

That quarterfinal was one-sided, with BLG taking all four Barons and outscoring DK 62 kills to 28.

BLG have now won all three of their Worlds quarterfinals, each against an LCK team.

T1 entered Worlds 2026 as the third seed of the LCK and opened their Swiss Stage campaign by taking down the CBLOL's LOS, but fell to regional rivals Dplus KIA in Round 2.

They bounced back by defeating the LCP's CTBC Flying Oyster and then secured their spot in the Knockout Stage by soundly sweeping Movistar KOI in Round 4.

In the quarterfinals, T1 defeated Karmine Corp in four games.

T1 had now reached the Worlds semifinals six years in a row, beginning in 2021, finishing second in 2022, then lifting the trophy in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The other semifinal saw Gen.G sweep Invictus Gaming to become the first team to advance to the grand finals.

Riot Games is running Worlds 2026 with 19 teams and a total prize pool of $5,000,000.

The grand final between BLG and Gen.G is set for November 14 at 14:00 Eastern Time.