Gen.G and Bilibili Gaming will meet in the Worlds 2026 grand final on Saturday 14 November at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Both are chasing something long overdue. Gen.G haven’t lifted the Summoner’s Cup since 2017, when the roster still played as Samsung Galaxy. BLG have never won it, and they lost the 2024 final to T1.
The semifinals set this up nicely. Gen.G swept Invictus Gaming 3-0 in Allen, Texas. A day later, BLG beat T1, champions for three years running, 3-1. Whatever happens on Saturday, T1’s run is over, and someone else lifts the cup.
When is the Worlds 2026 final?
The grand final is a best-of-five on Saturday, 14 November 2026, starting at 19:00 UTC. It’s at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, which holds about 19,000. It’s the first Worlds final on the US East Coast.
| Region | Start time |
|---|---|
| US Pacific (PT) | 11:00, Saturday |
| US Eastern (ET) | 14:00, Saturday |
| UK (GMT) | 19:00, Saturday |
| Central Europe (CET) | 20:00, Saturday |
| China (CST) | 03:00, Sunday |
| Korea (KST) | 04:00, Sunday |
You can watch on the LoL Esports Twitch and YouTube channels, or at lolesports.com, where you can earn viewer drops if your Riot account is linked. The winners take US$1,000,000 from the US$5,000,000 prize pool, and the runners-up get US$800,000.
If you’re in New York, the Worlds Fan Fest runs at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan from 12 to 14 November.
Gen.G’s road to the final
Gen.G have dropped one game in the whole tournament. They came in as the LCK’s top seed and went 3-0 in the Swiss stage, beating IG, Hanwha Life and LYON. LYON took game one off them in that Bo3, which is still the only game Gen.G has lost.
In the quarterfinal, they swept LYON, then did the same to IG in the semis. Games one and two were tidy. In game three, IG led 6-0 in kills and by over 4,000 gold, but Gen.G picked off the right targets around the objective and turned it around. Going 3-0 after a start like that is about as convincing as it gets.
This is also Gen.G’s first Worlds final since 2017. They’d finished in the top four in four of their last five Worlds without getting past the semis, so breaking that streak matters.
BLG’s road to the final
BLG made it the hard way. They came in as the LPL’s second seed and went 3-2 in the Swiss stage. They lost to Movistar KOI in round one and to Top Esports later on, so they needed to beat Hanwha Life in the final round to go through.
They’ve been a different team since. BLG swept Dplus KIA in the quarterfinal, then beat T1 3-1 in the semis. T1 levelled the series in game two, but BLG won games three comfortably but game four wasn’t so easy, especially with Faker reducing the gold deficit solo. T1 had won all 13 of their previous Worlds best-of-fives against LPL teams, so it’s a big result.
It’s also BLG’s third international final of the year. They won First Stand in March, beating G2 in the final, and lost the MSI final 3-2 to Hanwha Life in July.
Rosters and key matchups
| Role | Gen.G | BLG |
|---|---|---|
| Top | Kiin | Bin |
| Jungle | Canyon | Xun |
| Mid | Chovy | Knight |
| ADC | Ruler | Viper |
| Support | Duro | ON |
| Head coach | Ryu | Daeny |
Gen.G haven’t changed their roster all year. All five have played together since Ruler and Duro joined in 2025. BLG brought in Xun and Viper over the 2025-26 winter and have tried a few players in top lane, with Flandre on the bench.
Mid lane is the matchup everyone will watch. Chovy and Knight are two of the best mids in the world, and neither has won Worlds. One of them will on Saturday.
The bot lane matters just as much, and both ADCs have won Worlds. Ruler did it with Samsung Galaxy in 2017, so he’s the one link to the organisation’s last title. Viper won it with EDG in 2021. Watch how Duro and ON handle that two-on-two, because an early lead there opens the map for both junglers.
Top could swing it. Bin is one of the best performers in international history, and Kiin is one of the most consistent tops in the LCK. If Bin gets ahead and takes over the side lanes, that’s BLG’s best way to win.
Prediction: Gen.G 3-2
I’m going with Gen.G in five. They’ve lost one game all tournament, they have the same five players they’ve had all year, and the IG comeback showed they don’t panic when they go behind. Chovy and Ruler, with a week to prepare, are a scary combination. Plus, I backed Gen.G since day one, so why not keep that up?
BLG are the team to watch if it goes long, though. They lost twice in Swiss and have improved every series since, and they’ve already reached three international finals this year. If Bin and Knight get the early leads they found against T1, this goes the distance, and BLG could win it.