Esports World Cup 2025 League of Legends: T1 became the first team to be invited

Recently, it has been revealed that T1 became the first team who get a direct invite to the League of Legends tournament for Esports World Cup 2025 in July this year. The EWC 2025 is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The entire event will span over eight weeks featuring intense competition. Organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation in collaboration with ESL FACEIT Group, the event aims to be the largest esports and gaming festival globally. 

Esports World Cup 2025 LoL tournament prize pool and schedule

The LoL tournament in this World Cup is scheduled to run from July 16 to July 20, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Over the course of five days, a total of 12 elite teams will engage in intense competition. 

Here is the slot distribution.

• Direct Invite: T1 has been granted a direct invitation to the EWC 2025 as the EWC 2024 winner.
• Korea (LCK): 2 teams from the LCK Road to MSI.
• China (LPL): 2 teams from the LPL Split 2 Playoffs.
• Europe, Middle East, and Africa (LEC): 2 teams from the LEC Split 2 Playoffs.
• Latin America North (LTA North): 2 teams from the LTA North Split 2 Playoffs.
• Latin America South (LTA South): 1 team from the LTA South Split 2 Playoffs.
• Pacific (LCP): 2 teams from the LCP Mid-Season Qualifying Series.

While the complete roster of participating teams has yet to be announced, T1 is the only team confirmed to receive a direct invitation. 

Not to mention, T1 is also the reigning champion as they won EWS 2024 defeating TES in a thrilling final. Despite, losing the first game, they showcased resilience and strategic prowess, bouncing back to win the next three games consecutively. In the decisive fourth game, Faker's out-of-the-blue pick of Yasuo proved instrumental and led T1 to a 3-1 series victory. As champions, T1 claimed the top prize of $400,000.

Also Read: S8UL Joins Esports World Cup Foundation Club Partner Program 2025

The EWC 2024 LoL tournament achieved impressive viewership, peaking at over 1.1 million concurrent viewers during the grand finale, making it one of the most-watched LoL events of the year.

On the same not, the 2025 edition is also expected to set new benchmarks in terms of production quality, viewership, and global reach.