Riot announces first stand group stage matches

Riot reveals the First Stand 2026 group stage matchups as eight teams prepare to compete in São Paulo for a share of the $1,000,000 prize pool.

eSports Betting News

by Jur Dava

March 9, 2026 0

On Sunday, March 8, Riot announced the opening group stage matches of the upcoming First Stand tournament, dividing eight teams into two groups of four.

The first League of Legends international tournament of the season is just one week away. Scheduled to kick off on March 16 in São Paulo, Brazil, First Stand will welcome eight teams who will battle for the lion’s share of the US$1,000,000 prize pool.

The #FST2026 Group Draw! pic.twitter.com/qqfiYxLeJG
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) March 8, 2026

The event will begin with a group stage, two double-elimination groups of four teams who will battle in a series of best-of-five games for four tickets leading into the playoffs.

The group stage format has changed since last year to accommodate a larger field of teams.

The inaugural First Stand event featured only squads that started their campaign in a single round-robin group.

The group stage draw for First Stand 2026 included some rules, with the matchups of the LoL Champions Korea (LCK) and LoL Pro League (LPL) teams determined in advance, due to the pooling system.

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Gen.G and Bilibili Gaming were placed in Pool 1, while BNK FEARX and JD Gaming were placed in Pool 3. LOUD, LYON, G2 Esports, and Team Secret Whales were all in Pool 2.

Since no regional matches are allowed in the group stage, Bilibili Gaming were automatically paired with BNK FEARX, and Gen.G with JD Gaming.

With two pairings predetermined, the remaining squads were drawn at random to form four exciting clashes.

European champions, G2 Esports, got paired with Team Secret Whales in Group A, where they will fight for a spot in the playoffs alongside BNK FEARX and Bilibili Gaming.

North American champions LYON, on the other hand, will clash with their southern neighbors LOUD in the second match of Group B. The series winner will then clash with either Gen.G or JD Gaming.

The best LoL betting sites did not need long after the draw to set the markets for opening First Stand matches, pricing Bilibili Gaming, G2 Esports, and Gen.G as firm favorites to take one step closer to playoffs tickets.