LoL EWC 2026 Day 1 recap: Curtains for LYON and MKOI

Naerlyn Published July 17, 2026

Day 1 of the LoL Esports World Cup 2026 has concluded, and four teams are out. While most matches went as expected, there were also a couple of upsets. Mostly, the West has to be worried about what’s up next. With only the qualification matches left to play now, here’s a summary of day 1 of the EWC 2026 for League of Legends.

LoL EWC 2026 day 1 recap

Until the eliminations, all games were going as planned. China and Korea won against the West, and the CBLOL and LCP lost their matches. Dplus KIA lost to a strong Chinese team, and that rounds out the first matches.

Movistar KOI vs GAM Esports

In the first match, MKOI lost a very close game against Bilibili Gaming. Joseph “Jojopyun” Joon Pyun was pulling heroics to keep every fight even, but ultimately, BLG won one and took the map off the back of it.

Then came the elimination match against a much weaker opponent, the LCP’s second seed. For EU, this match should have been a cakewalk.

However, game 1 already started as a bad omen. MKOI was behind all game long, clutched a soul, and kept losing fights afterwards. After losing a Nexus turret, they finally came around and took the first map. Game 2 was GAM’s vengeance, though, as KOI never managed to do more than tie a fight.

Movistar came around and finally showed a great performance to start off game 3. By minute 11, Europe was 4k gold ahead, a monumental lead for that time in the game. Then, they didn’t manage to hold onto it. Fight after fight, they lost ground, and GAM ultimately won the game and the series.

With that, MKOI is out of EWC 2026. Out of eight international tournaments played since 2023, they have only won a match during the main stage of three of them.

Team Secret vs Karmine Corp

While MKOI put up a fight against BLG, KC did not do as such against Gen.G. With that loss, they went on to face TS in the elimination match.

Game 1 was a good victory that Europe can feel okay about. However, game 2 did not keep that course. KC once again got ahead in the mid game, taking pick after pick. Until Naafiri and Kai’Sa started showing up and causing problems that Karmine didn’t manage to answer.

The more time passed, the more disjointed KC became. Carries went out of position to farm, players made mechanical mistakes, and the team regularly looked like they weren’t on the same page at all. The team supposed to excel at teamfighting couldn’t coordinate anymore.

In the end, game 3 was relatively one-sided in KC’s favor again. It wasn’t the clean win that they would have wanted, but it was a win nonetheless.

Team Secret is out of LoL EWC 2026 after exposing KC’s weaknesses. Image Source: Liu Yicun / Riot Games

MIBR.LOS vs LYON

Similarly, LYON took a beating by the hands of JD Gaming. Now up against the second seed from Brazil, this was supposed to be a formality. LYON beat Team Secret and G2 Esports, and ML isn’t on their level.

Game 1 was a complete top lane domination. Kim “Zest” Dong-min went 15-0 on Vayne, being the entire gold lead. In the meantime, the rest of the map was mostly holding up for LYON. The supports, junglers, and bot laners took turns making picks with varied results. Ultimately, ML claimed the game after questionable macro calls from LYON.

The second map did not relent with the fighting. This time, Niship “Dhokla” Doshi took the lead in the top lane, and the teams remained at arm’s reach for a while. Fighting was constant, and ML slowly but surely accrued a lead. After 45 kills in 30 minutes, MIBR.LOS claimed the match.

For EU and NA, this is MKOI and LYON out, and KC and Sentinels looking shaky. As for G2, they haven’t been tested yet.

LoL EWC 2026 Day 2 match-ups

The match-ups for today are as follows. With eight more series of action, there’s plenty of opportunities for LoL betting.

Featured Image Source: Wojciech Wandzel / Riot Games