T1 beat Karmine Corp 3-1 to reach sixth straight Worlds semi-final

T1 are through to the Worlds 2026 semi-finals after ending Karmine Corp's run in four games. Bilibili Gaming now stand between the Korean side and a place in the Brooklyn final.

T1 close out the series

The quarter-final was played on Friday 6 November at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas. T1 took the first two games in 36 and 30 minutes. Karmine Corp pulled one back in 37 minutes, but T1 closed out the series in 35 minutes.

The result puts T1 in the semi-finals for a sixth year running, a streak that began in 2021.

Karmine Corp's Worlds run

Karmine Corp's tournament began on 15 October in the Play-In, where they beat Cloud9 3-2. In the Swiss Stage, the French organisation opened with a 1-0 win over Anyone's Legend. Defeats to LYON and Bilibili Gaming followed. Karmine Corp then beat CTBC Flying Oyster 2-0 and Movistar KOI 2-0 to reach the knockouts.

Entering the quarter-final, Karmine Corp were 13th on 1785 in the Elo power rankings, just behind their opponents. In a statement on social media, the team said it had lost 1-3 to T1, finishing in the top eight, and thanked fans for their support this year.

Bilibili Gaming up next

T1 reached the knockouts with wins over LOS, CTBC Flying Oyster and Movistar KOI. Their only Swiss Stage defeat came against Dplus KIA. Bilibili Gaming swept that same Dplus KIA side 3-0 in the first quarter-final on 5 November. In the Swiss Stage, they also beat Hanwha Life Esports 2-0 and Karmine Corp 1-0.

The two semi-finalists have met three times this year, and the teams split their two earlier meetings. T1 won 3-0 at the Mid-Season Invitational on 29 June, and Karmine Corp won 2-1 at the Esports World Cup on 18 July. The most recent meeting went to Bilibili Gaming, in a best-of-one in the Esports World Cup 2026 group stage.

T1 and Bilibili Gaming are scheduled to play on Sunday 8 November, with a place in the final at stake.

Other semi-final and final

The other semi-final is Gen.G against Invictus Gaming on Saturday 7 November at 16:00 Central Time. Gen.G beat LYON 3-0 in their quarter-final, while Invictus Gaming beat Top Esports 3-1.

Nineteen teams started the tournament, which has a total prize pool of $5,000,000. The winner of T1 against Bilibili Gaming will play in the best-of-five Grand Final in Brooklyn, which starts on Saturday 14 November at 2pm EST.

For UK viewers, the English-language broadcast includes British casters Andrew 'Vedius' Day, Dan 'Aux' Harrison and Aaron 'Medic' Chamberlain. Vedius is listed to cast in the Knockout Stage, which runs from 3 to 14 November.