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Image credit: Riot Games Europe vs. North America has been one of the game’s defining regional rivalries since the inaugural League of Legends World Championship in 2011. It has survived years of trash talk, Rift Rivals, international upsets, and one-sided stomps.
For much of the last 15 years, though, Europe had the stronger argument. The region produced deeper international runs, won major trophies, and generally looked like the clear third-best region behind Korea and China. However, that is becoming much harder to say now.
North America is leading the recent head-to-head, while Europe continues to perform significantly better against the regions actually competing for international titles. So who really has the upper hand in League’s oldest regional rivalry today?
Methodology: This analysis counts individual games played at Worlds, MSI, and First Stand through MSI 2026, including play-on matches. Teams are classified by the league or conference through which they qualified, with LTA North teams grouped with North America and LYON counted as an LCS representative in 2026. Rift Rivals and other competitions outside Riot’s three global tournaments are excluded. Global Power Rankings (GPR) scores are accurate as of Sep. 1, 2026.
Since First Stand 2025 , LCS and LTA North teams have a 12–3 record against LEC teams at Riot’s international events.
That’s four series wins for North America and one for Europe. The sample remains relatively small, but the direction of travel is difficult to ignore.
MSI 2026 was especially ugly for the LEC. Team Liquid swept Karmine Corp before LYON did the same to G2 Esports , leaving Europe with a 0–6 record against the LCS in a single tournament.
If your definition of third-best is simply, ‘When LEC and LCS play each other, who wins?’, the answer right now is North America.
Image credit: Riot Games But beating Europe isn’t the same as beating Korea and China This is where the argument completely flips.
Across First Stand, MSI, and Worlds in 2025, as well as First Stand and MSI in 2026, the LEC, LCS, and LCP produced the following game records against LCK and LPL teams:
Those numbers come from every matchup at the last five international tournaments. The final column is particularly brutal for North America.
Since the beginning of 2025, no LCS or LTA North team has won a single best-of-three or best-of-five series against an LCK or LPL team at an international event.
Now, that’s not to say there haven’t been any good performances — there definitely have.
For example, FlyQuest took Bilibili Gaming to five games at MSI 2025, while 100 Thieves even upset the Chinese titan in a best-of-one at Worlds. However, there have been no series wins, while the LEC has…