With the conclusion of the Summer playoffs in all regions, it’s now finally time for the 2025 LoL Worlds! The biggest international competition of the year will be aired from October 14th to November 9th, in China. You’ll find the entire LoL Worlds schedule as well as its locations and venues here!
| Stage | Dates | Location | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Play-in | Oct. 14 | Beijing, China | Beijing Smart Esports Center |
| Swiss Stage | Oct. 15 – 25 | Beijing, China | Beijing Smart Esports Center |
| Quarterfinals | Oct. 28 – 31 | Shanghai, China | Mercedes-Benz Arena |
| Semifinals | Nov. 1 – 2 | Shanghai, China | Mercedes-Benz Arena |
| Finals | Nov. 9 | Chengdu, China | Dong’an Lake Sports Park Multifunctional Gymnasium |
Play-ins have been changed again this year, this time only being one single BO5 match opposing the 4th seed from the LCK and the LPL.
The winner will become one of the 16 teams competing in the Swiss stage, while the loser is eliminated on the spot.
This best-of-five will take place on Oct. 14 (Tuesday), at the Beijing Smart Esports Center. It will start at 8AM UTC (1AM PST, or 10AM CET).
Unlike previous play-ins, this match will probably be more exciting than most of the Swiss stage and will be the only BO5 played until playoffs, so you don’t want to miss it!
Just like in previous years, the Swiss stage consists of 5 rounds of games, where each of the 16 teams plays opponents with the same match score until they reach 3 wins or 3 losses. All 8 teams attaining 3 wins qualify for playoffs.
Each qualification and elimination match is a BO3, while all other games are BO1s. The schedule for the Swiss stage is as follows:
| Oct. 15 (Wed) | All 8 games of round 1 are played, starting at 5AM UTC |
| Oct. 16 (Thu) | All 8 games of round 2 are played, starting at 5AM UTC |
| Oct. 17 (Fri) | The 4 teams with a score of 2-0 play their qualifying BO3s, starting at 8AM UTC. |
| Oct. 18 (Sat) | The 8 teams with a score of 1-1 play one round of BO1s among themselves, starting at 8 UTC. |
| Oct. 19 (Sun) | The 4 teams with a score of 0-2 play their eliminating BO3s to close out round 3 of the Swiss stage, starting at 8AM UTC. |
🇺🇸 Heads up for Americans! The days listed here are based on universal time. With these starting times, that means that for people in the Pacific or Mountain time zones (or other similar time zones), the games start on the evening prior. Round 1 will take place at 10PM PST on the 14th of October, for example.
Note that after this comes a 2-day break between rounds 3 and 4, and “week 2” of the 2025 LoL Worlds resumes on the following Wednesday.
| Oct. 22 (Wed) | 4 of the 6 teams with a score of 2-1 play a qualifying BO3, starting at 8AM UTC. |
| Oct. 23 (Thu) | The last two 2-1 teams play their qualifying BO3, and two of the six 1-2 teams play their eliminating BO3, also at 8AM UTC. |
| Oct. 24 (Fri) | The other 4 1-2 teams play their respective eliminating BO3s, starting at 8AM UTC, and this concludes round 4 of the 2025 Swiss stage. |
| Oct. 25 (Sat) | Round 5! We are left with 6 teams all with a score of 2-2, and they will play one BO3 each to either snatch one of the last three playoff spots, or conclude their year there. With three BO3s and the potential for 9 games, this day starts at 5AM UTC and can be the longest day of the 2025 LoL Worlds. |
The venue for all games of the Swiss stage will also be the Beijing Smart Esports Center, same as the play-ins venue.
Playoffs this year will have a new format compared to the previous LoL Worlds schedules: Quarterfinals are played only 3 days after the end of the Swiss stage, and semifinals follow right after without a break.
All playoffs matches for the 2025 LoL World Championship start at 7AM UTC (12AM PST, or 8AM CET).
| Oct. 28 (Tue) | Quarterfinals, match 1 |
| Oct. 29 (Wed) | Quarterfinals, match 2 |
| Oct. 30 (Thu) | Quarterfinals, match 3 |
| Oct. 31 (Fri) | Quarterfinals, match 4 |
| Nov. 1 (Sat) | Semifinals, match 1 |
| Nov. 2 (Sun) | Semifinals, match 2 |
Both of these stages will be played in the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. With 18,000 seats, that makes it a venue of a higher capacity than that of any previous LoL Worlds venue for quarterfinals (although it has been beaten by other LoL Worlds semifinals locations).
And lastly, the 2025 LoL World Championship Finals will take place on Sunday, Nov. 9th.
🇺🇸 Another heads up for Americans: this match will start one hour earlier than the previous ones due to daylight savings kicking in the weekend before. That will make its starting time 11PM PST (on Nov. 8th).
The 2025 LoL Worlds Finals venue will be the Dong’an Lake Sports Park Multifunctional Gymnasium in Chengdu.
Image: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
Now that you’re covered on the schedule and locations of the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, make sure to show up on Oct. 14 at LoL Esports to miss nothing of this year’s fight for the Summoner’s Cup. Come back around for more coverage of the event!
Featured image credit: Riot Games / LoL Esports
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