The Long Way Back
IG’s First Main Event Game Since the 2019 Semifinal
Their last one was a 1–3 loss to FunPlus Phoenix, played by TheShy, Ning, Rookie, JackeyLove and Baolan, the same five who won the 2018 title.
1–3
IG vs FunPlus Phoenix, 2019 semifinal, their last Main Event series
The Take
Since that semifinal IG’s only Worlds before this one was 2025, and it ended in the Play-In against T1, so those four games are all Rookie has played at Worlds since. TheShy did reach a Main Event with Weibo Gaming in 2023. Tonight both are back on that stage in IG colours.
Sources
Overheard
“I think in this kind of big international tournament, every single mistake affects the result. In today's match, players from our team made many small mistakes and those put together made us not be able to win this series.”
Inven Global →
1 more overheard
19 Sept 2026
Dongqiudi reported that IG's 3–1 win over JDG in the LPL qualifier put IG and Rookie back in the Worlds main event for the first time since 2019. It noted that IG had not reached the main event since the S9 semifinal loss to FPX, and lost 1–3 to T1 in the Play-In the year before.
Dongqiudi (via Tencent News) →
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