Team Secret Whales pulled off one of MSI 2026’s biggest upsets, dumping Top Esports out of the tournament with a 3–1 win in Lower Bracket Round One.
The LCP side didn’t just survive against the LPL representatives, they controlled the series. Fans quickly pointed out that this looks like the first time a Vietnamese team has ever beaten an LPL team in a best-of-five.
TES came in as favorites. On paper, they had two World Champions in JackeyLove and Tian, plus rising mid laner Creme. That wasn’t enough.
TES had already been shaken heading into this match. They were reverse-swept by G2 in the upper bracket, a series many blamed on a pivotal scuttle fight that flipped their momentum. Whatever confidence they had left, TSW ripped it apart.
The Vietnamese side scaled better, teamfought better, and closed games with terrifying frontlines. In the final game, a fed Dr. Mundo simply walked through TES after hitting level 16, tanking everything the LPL squad threw at him.
Even the games where TSW’s execution wasn’t clean, like a Yorick that refused to split push, they still found ways to win. That’s how lopsided this was.
For Top Esports, this is another chapter in a long book of international disappointments. Tian was called out for holding abilities too long and losing tempo. JackeyLove had another rough international exit. Rookies ZUIAN and fengYue were exposed, with fengYue’s tournament-point Pyke pick getting questioned before the game even started.
The parallel writes itself. Back at Worlds 2022, GAM Esports handed TES one of their most famous losses. Four years later, another Vietnamese team sends them home again.
