At the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 mega-event taking place in Paris, France, the League of Legends (LoL) tournament delivered on all fronts for MOBA fans across the globe, with an unlikely Grand Final to close out proceedings.

A total of 16 teams fought on Summoner's Rift from 15 to 19 July 2026 for their share of the $2 million prize pool. At the current exchange rate, that's roughly R33 million. With the best teams in attendance, including the likes of Worlds 2025 champions, T1, alongside other top contenders such as Gen.G Esports, Hanwha Life, and Bilibili Gaming, the teams who survived to make it to the Grand Final came as a bit of a surprise.

After the field was whittled down to eight teams, with several Group Stage upsets along the way, we watched on as Karmine Corp did the unthinkable. They made a fantastic run, first beating All Gamers Global, and then reverse-sweeping the legendary T1 squad to earn a spot in the Grand Final.

On the other side of the bracket, it was Dplus who punched above their weight, first defeating Bilibili Gaming and then Gen.G Esports for a spot in the Grand Final. At the EWC 2026 LoL event's Grand Final, Dplus decimated Karmine Corp 3-0 to lift the trophy.

Congratulations go out to Dplus for their upset win, and to their botlaner, Sin "Smash" Guem-jae, who was named the MVP.

If you just want a quick overview of where each team placed and how much they won, we've got you covered with the neat little table below.

Stay tuned to Esports Central as we'll keep on bringing you coverage of the biggest esports tournaments for the foreseeable future.

Header image via Esports Foundation.