Gen.G Esports Clinches League of Legends Title at Esports World Cup 2025
- Sagar Mankar
- Jul 21, 2025
- 3 min read
Gen.G Esports has added another major trophy to its collection by winning the League of Legends title at the Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Korean powerhouse edged out AG.AL International 3-2 in a nail-biting Grand Final, marking their second international win in just two weeks and continuing a flawless 26-match unbeaten streak.
This victory follows their Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) title win, making Gen.G the fastest team in League of Legends history to secure back-to-back international championships. Their momentum shows no signs of slowing, as they now sit comfortably at the top of the Club Championship standings with 1,800 points.
Finale Showdown
The final against AG.AL was a five-game showdown packed with twists. Gen.G started strong with swift wins in Game 1 (30 minutes on blue side) and Game 2 (28 minutes on red), but AG.AL wasn't ready to bow out just yet. They fought back with victories in the next two games, including a grueling 46-minute fourth match. However, Gen.G rallied and sealed the win in the deciding game, claiming the $600,000 prize and 1,000 EWC club points.
Star top-laner Kim “Kiin” Ki-in was named MVP of the tournament and walked away with an additional $10,000. In his post-match interview, Kiin reflected on the emotional weight of the moment, saying, “In past international events, we’ve felt we underperformed. Winning back-to-back like this shows we are still at the very top.” He added that this win reaffirmed his confidence in both himself and his team’s potential for future championships.
Mid-laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon also shared his thoughts, highlighting the incredible energy in the venue. “The atmosphere was amazing. That energy helped push us through to the end. The fans have been phenomenal,” he said.
Finalists’ Journeys in League of Legends – Esports World Cup 2025
Gen.G’s current roster—Joo “Duro” Min-kyu, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, and Kiin—dominated the playoffs after directly qualifying from MSI 2025. They swept FlyQuest 2-0 in the quarterfinals and outlasted G2 Esports 2-1 in the semifinals before their epic final clash with AG.AL.
AG.AL, also seeded directly into the playoffs, had an impressive run of their own. They defeated Hanwha Life Esports 2-1 and stunned fan favorites T1 with a 2-0 sweep in the semifinals. Despite falling short in the final, their resilience earned them $320,000 and 750 club points.
T1 rebounded from their semifinal loss to secure third place with a 2-0 sweep over G2 Esports, bagging $230,000 and 500 points in the process.
Prize Pool Distribution
In total, twelve teams competed for a $2 million prize pool. Here's the full prize and point breakdown:
Gen.G Esports – $600,000, 1,000 points
AG.AL International – $320,000, 750 points
T1 – $230,000, 500 points
4th G2 Esports – $160,000, 300 points
5-8 FlyQuest, Bilibili Gaming, Hanwha Life Esports, KOI – $110,000, 200 points each
9-10 FURIA, CTBC Flying Oyster – $75,000
11-12 Cloud9, GAM Esports – $50,000
Viewership
The League of Legends event also saw impressive viewership. According to Esports Charts, the Grand Final peaked at 1.2 million concurrent viewers, not including numbers from platforms in Mainland China. The event averaged 472,518 viewers with a total watch time of over 18 million hours across the 38-hour tournament span. This represents a small but significant jump from last year's peak of 1.1 million viewers when T1 triumphed over Top Esports.
However, this year's viewership still falls short of the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) figures, which reached 3.5 million viewers earlier this month when Gen.G defeated T1 in the finals.
Thoughts
Gen.G’s CEO, Arnold Hur, praised the team’s commitment, stating, “The goal is always to keep improving each year. This team is showing exactly what that means—consistency, hunger, and results.”
The org echoed the sentiment on X, posting, “From MSI to EWC — another international trophy for Gen.G! We’re not just winning—we’re Rising Above.”
The Esports World Cup 2025 followed a two-phase format. The group stage ran on July 16–17 with two GSL-style double elimination groups, followed by the single-elimination playoffs from July 18–20. Gen.G and AG.AL were among the four high-seed teams pre-qualified into the playoffs based on their MSI 2025 performance. All matches, including the grand final, were played on Patch 25.13 using the Fearless Draft format.
With two international titles secured in rapid succession and the top spot on the leaderboard, Gen.G is making a serious case for being the best League of Legends team in the world right now. The only question that remains is—can anyone stop them this season?
Comments