Top Esports join Anyone's Legend and Bilibili Gaming as the LPL's representatives in Worlds 2026.
Top Esports (TES) will be the third representative for China's League of Legends Pro League (LPL) in the 2026 League of Legends World Championship after they defeated 
Invictus Gaming (IG), 3-1, in the upper bracket finals of the LPL 2026 Regional Finals on Thursday (17 September).
TES will join 
Anyone's Legend (AL) and 
Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in representing the LPL in this year's Worlds, which is set to kick off in New York City in 15 October. The fourth and final spot for the LPL in Worlds 2026 is still up for grabs between IG, 
Team WE, and 
JD Gaming (JDG). All four LPL representatives will start Worlds 2026 in the Swiss Stage, which will take place in Allen, Texas from 23 to 31 October.
How Top Esports qualified for Worlds 2026
TES secured their spot in this year's world championship despite mixed results in the season so far. In March, they only finished 5th-6th in LPL 2026 Split 1. They then failed to qualify for the League of Legends Esports World Cup 2026 after only placing 7th-8th in the tournament's Chinese regional qualifier.
TES then improved in LPL 2026 Split 2, finishing second to BLG and earning a spot in the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). However, they faltered against international competition and were knocked out of MSI 2026 in 7th-8th place. Their poor form continued to the LPL 2026 Split 3, where they finished 7th-8th.
But thanks to ranking third in the LPL's Championship Points standings, TES earned another shot at qualifying for Worlds 2026 through the LPL 2026 Regional Finals. Matched up against TES in the upper bracket finals were IG, who positioned fourth in the standings.
IG struck first in the series, taking game one in 40 minutes behind 
Eui-jin “Rookie” Song on Syndra and 
Jia-Qi “JiaQi” Zi on Yunara. Rookie finished the series opener with three kills and seven assists on one death while JiaQi had five kills and four assists against five deaths.
TES were quick to tie things up in game two, where Cheng “ZUIAN” Zihao put up an excellent performance on Olaf to lead his team to a 31-minute win. ZUIAN paced TES' 14-8 kill lead in game two with seven kills and three assists on two deaths while Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang on Lee Sin added three kills and six assists on three deaths.
Game three then saw TES rout IG in 36 minutes to take a commanding 2-1 series lead. Jian “Creme” Lin was nigh-unstoppable on Locke in this pivotal game, as he racked up 13 kills and eight assists against two deaths. ZUIAN on Ambessa also pitched in with eight kills and assists apiece on five deaths.
TES were once again dominant in game four, securing the 3-1 series victory and their spot in Worlds 2026 in 38 minutes of action. Tian on Pantheon led the way for TES in the closeout game with eight kills and 11 assists on just one death, while Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo on Kalista put up seven kills and 10 assists against two deaths.
