Esport MeDplus KIA stun G2 Esports again as Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage begins
The lowest-seeded team in the draw beat LEC champions G2 Esports in their Worlds 2026 opener, repeating a result from July's Esports World Cup final and setting up a Saturday clash with T1.
Dplus KIA opened their Worlds 2026 campaign by beating G2 Esports in a best-of-one Swiss Stage tie that started at 21:10 UTC on Friday, according to Esports Insider.
The result repeated what happened three months earlier at the Esports World Cup, where Dplus KIA had already got the better of the LEC side.
On paper the two teams were far apart. G2 entered as a top-tier seed, ranked 13th in the Elo power rankings with a 1798 rating and a 92-41 record across 133 rated matches. Dplus KIA came in from the bottom tier, sitting 29th on 1715 with a 91-61 record over 152 matches.
G2 looked the stronger side for long stretches. They won an early four-versus-four skirmish against Dplus KIA's bottom lane and later caught ShowMaker's Syndra in the mid lane. Dplus KIA nevertheless claimed the first dragon of the game and converted that advantage into the win.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for G2, who had beaten Team Vitality, Karmine Corp and Movistar KOI during LEC Summer 2026. That run included a 3-0 sweep of Movistar KOI in the Summer Grand Final in Nice on 20 September, which delivered G2 their 20th LEC title.
Dplus KIA's build-up to Worlds had been less convincing domestically. Their final LCK match before the tournament was a 1-3 defeat to T1, though they had previously beaten KT Rolster and BNK FEARX.
Their form outside Korea told a different story. Dplus KIA won the League of Legends tournament at the Esports World Cup in Paris, held from 15 to 19 July, sweeping Karmine Corp 3-0 in the final. The victory came with a prize of US$600,000 and 1,000 Club Championship points, and organisers described it as the club's first Esports World Cup title, Esports Insider reported.
T1 also began their Worlds campaign with a win, beating LOS, and now meet Dplus KIA next. Because the Swiss Stage format prevents any pairing from happening twice, G2 and Dplus KIA cannot face each other again in this stage.
Round 1 elsewhere went to form for most of the LEC's representatives. Karmine Corp beat Anyone's Legend and Movistar KOI defeated Bilibili Gaming. Hanwha Life Esports beat Top Esports, CTBC Flying Oyster beat Team Liquid, and LYON beat Team Secret Whales.
Sixteen teams are competing across five Swiss Stage rounds, with three wins sending a side through to the quarter-finals and three losses eliminating it.
The broadcast schedule shifts for matches played between 28 and 30 October, which are set to start at 8.00pm UTC rather than the 5.00pm UTC slot used on the opening days.
The Worlds 2026 final is scheduled for Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday 14 November, starting at 2pm EST, which is 8pm CET.
