Dplus Kia was crowned League of Legends champion at the Esports World Cup 2026, after defeating French team Karmine Corp 3-0 in the final. This is the team's first title in a LAN tournament during the 2026 season, and its first cup in a major international competition in about 6 years, earning a prize of $600,000 from the total pool and 1000 points in the club championship race. In a tough journey to the final, Dplus Kia dropped early to the losers' bracket in the group stage, after losing to AG AL, but quickly regained its balance, achieving a clean series of wins in best-of-three matches against Brazil's FURIA and Europe's G2 Esports, thus securing a spot in the elimination rounds. There, the South Korean team continued its march by eliminating Gen.G, the 2025 title holder, and advancing to the final. Meanwhile, Karmine Corp pulled off one of the tournament's biggest surprises, overturning a deficit to defeat T1, the Korean league giant, champion of the Esports World Cup 2024 and current world champion, in a strong semifinal match, thus entering the decisive final against Dplus Kia. The winners of the previous two editions of the League of Legends competition at the Esports World Cup, T1 and Gen.G, entered the battle for third place after both exited the tournament from the semifinals, and the two South Korean rivals proved worthy of their previous titles by putting up a strong competitive series that ended with Gen.G prevailing 2-1, securing third place and a prize of $220,000 from the tournament's total prize pool. The Esports World Cup is considered the most prominent sporting event on the global esports calendar.