Americas Cup 2026: How big is the gap between the LCS and CBLOL?

The Americas Cup 2026 is a tournament held following the first split of the LCS and CBLOL, before the First Stand 2026. The second and third place teams from both regions compete for a funded bootcamp provided by Riot Games during MSI 2026 in Korea.

The first two matches were played on March 3 and 4 as we saw Cloud9 facing FURIA and Sentinels vs RED Canids.

C9 vs FURIA: FURIA shine as Cloud9’s struggles continue

However, C9’s biggest issue came in the jungle. Pedro “Tatu“ Seixas completely controlled the map, outclassing a visibly struggling Robert “Blaber“ Huang who has already been criticized already after the LCS Final loss. FURIA dismantled North America’s second seed in just 26 minutes, finishing the game with a massive 13k gold lead.

In the second game , FURIA doubled down on their confidence with a Yasuo AD Carry draft. Ayu greatly showed his confidence on the champion, while C9 appeared unprepared to face the enemy composition. The bot lane quickly collapsed, and the Malphite–Yasuo combination later dominated teamfights, sealing another convincing win for the Brazilian side.

Já pode parar de fingir humildade? 😔 pic.twitter.com/gyW1YfpjAB

— CBLOL (@CBLOL) March 4, 2026

RED vs SEN: North America’s third seed shines

Despite a terrible early game, Sentinels managed to secure the opening map thanks to their clear macro advantage. Even after falling nearly 4k gold behind in the first 15 minutes, they continued stacking dragons and controlling key objectives.

Several mistakes from RED’s jungler Raí “Curse” Yamada allowed SEN to secure the Infernal Soul and later Baron Nashor. The game was ultimately decided in an Elder Dragon fight, where Jeong “Impact“ Eon-young’s K’Sante particularly stood out.

The second game was far more convincing for Sentinels. They quickly addressed their early-game issues, largely thanks to Ham “HamBak” Yoo-jin, who dominated the jungle from the opening minutes. The Korean jungler’s strong performance gave Sentinels full control of the map, allowing them to close out the game in just 27 minutes.

WE'RE STABILIZING?? pic.twitter.com/96mCdxNORM

— LCS (@LCSOfficial) March 4, 2026

Americas Cup 2026: Early look at the gap between regions

After watching the first games of the Americas Cup 2026 ,i think that, NA still looks significantly stronger than LATAM overall. Cloud9 are clearly going through a difficult mental stretch as a team, which makes them a poor benchmark for evaluating the opponents true level. Sentinels, however, highlighted the macro gap between the regions. While LATAM players often show strong laning and mechanical skill, their team coordination and overall macro play are still weaker.

Heading into the First Stand 2026, LOUD may still have opportunities to take games from teams like G2, LYON, or TSW, but at the moment it’s hard to see them truly competing with the level shown by LCK or LPL representatives.