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FunPlus Phoenix, Splyce qualify for the League of Legends World Championship quarterfinals

The members of FunPlus Phoenix play during the group stage of the League of Legends World Championship in Berlin. Courtesy of Riot Games

FunPlus Phoenix and Splyce are the first two teams to earn their spot in the knockout stage of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship main event after emerging as the top two teams Thursday in Group B.

The event features 16 teams divided into four groups for a double round robin of best-of-one matches. The top two teams in each group will advance to the best-of-five quarterfinals, which run Oct. 25-27.

Group stage play continued Thursday with the second round of robin for Group B. Splyce, which started the day 1-2, roared into contention by winning three matches. They first beating J Team before recording back-to-back triumphs over FunPlus Phoenix and GAM Esports.

FunPlus Phoenix, which started the day with a 2-1 lead in the group, first beat GAM before falling to Splyce. They rallied to end the day with a win over J Team and beat Splyce in the Group B tiebreaker to take top seeding.

J Team (3-3) earned just one victory on Thursday -- a win over GAM, but were eliminated from the event. GAM went 0-3 for the day to drop to 1-5 and also were eliminated.

Group A will play its second round of robin on Friday, with Group C on Saturday and Group D on Sunday.