A Look Back at the Best Moments of LoL Worlds 2025

Naerlyn Published October 13, 2026

The 2026 League of Legends World Championship starts this week. For one month, the 19 best teams from all over the world will fight over the Summoner’s Cup one more time. Will it be T1 winning for the seventh time? While waiting for the action to start, let’s have a look back at the best moments from the 2025 LoL Worlds.

Who won the 2025 LoL Worlds?

T1 won the 2025 LoL Worlds, just like in 2024, and 2023. Last year’s run was particularly interesting, though.

T1 had to start through the play-in, which this year was only a single best-of-five between the LCK’s fourth seed and the LPL’s, Invictus Gaming. Then, they had their worst Swiss stage in the organisation’s history.

In Swiss, T1 went 3-2 and only qualified on the final day. This was the first time that T1 ever lost more than one match in the first main stage. During Groups, they only ever went 5-1 or 6-0. In Swiss, they had gone 3-1 both times.

At every turn, they had to prove themselves against the question of whether they’ll make it this time. Down 1-2, T1 went up against 100 Thieves and Movistar KOI.

Ultimately, T1 was bailed out by easy draws in the Swiss stage, as they only won against Western opponents. Then, they had to face Anyone’s Legend in the quarterfinal and the result warrants its own paragraph.

Counting Down the Best Moments from LoL Worlds 2025

1. T1 vs Anyone’s Legend

The T1 vs Anyone’s Legend quarterfinal was one for the history books. The LPL’s second seed AL had a fantastic Worlds, going 3-0 in the Swiss stage while displaying a pristine level against both Hanwha Life Esports and Gen.G.

This was the next big roadblock for T1. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok had never lost before semifinals, and he’d never lost a series to an LPL team at Worlds either. With AL looking on fire and T1 having very shaky performances, would this be the first time those would happen?

The result was one of the best series in LoL history. Every map was close, with three of them being small or big comebacks. T1 went down their usual 1-2 comfort zone, and the final game was the highlight of the match.

2025 LoL Worlds: Anyone’s Legend. Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

2. Oner’s First Time on Dr. Mundo

In the final game of the T1 vs AL series, Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun picked Dr. Mundo despite having no prior experience with the champion. After convincing Oner to play Mundo, Faker had to give him a quick rundown of the champion during champion select. The idea was inspired by G2’s jungler, and the pick ultimately played a key role in T1’s victory.

Meanwhile, Faker picked Mel for the first time in the tournament. He would go on to pick her again in each of his next two series. Game 5 between T1 and AL saw several players perform at an exceptionally high level, including a teamfight that lasted a full minute.

3. KT Rolster’s heroic run

KT has always been the odd one out from the LCK. While the likes of Gen.G or HLE are known quantities, one never knows what to expect from them. KT can beat the best teams and then forget how to play League for the next two weeks.

At the 2025 LoL Worlds, KT went 3-0 through the Swiss stage. Arguably, they faced easier opponents, and so did they in their quarterfinal. However, KT then went up against Gen.G, the absolute favorite of the entire tournament.

It was KT who had the honor of giving Gen.G their traditional semifinal loss, and kicking out the favorites. Then, they took T1 to five games in the grand final to finish as the runner-up.

KT Rolster was the 2025 LoL Worlds runner-up. Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

4. CTBC Flying Oyster, the protagonists

CFO was the team that everyone wanted to see succeed. The LCP champion went 3-1 at First Stand, then took T1 to five games at MSI. CFO clearly established themselves as better than the West.

Ultimately, they fell 0-3 to KT in their quarterfinal. While they failed to achieve strong results, they had an exciting, bold playstyle and at least challenged the best.

CFO was a fan favorite of the 2025 LoL Worlds. Image Credit: Yicun Liu / Riot Games

5. 100Thieves’ vlogs

100Thieves was North America’s weakest team, and they knew the team was getting sold after the 2025 LoL Worlds. Yet while they should have had a boring exit, instead Niship “Dhokla” Doshi made the community care about their fate.

Every day, he would record a vlog to make light of their uphill battle against the next opponent, as they had the toughest road through Swiss. 100T also shared footage of the team drawing T1 as their adversary, and everyone celebrated the chance to challenge them.

RELATED:

• LoL Worlds 2026 Locations
• All qualified teams for LoL Worlds 2026
• Which region will win LoL Worlds

As the 2026 LoL Worlds is drawing near, which rivalries are you looking forward to? Let us know on our forums.

Featured Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games