The FIP World Cup 2026 European Qualifier opened today at Padel G24 in Madrid, with 55 national teams representing 29 countries competing across five days for four precious tickets to November's World Cup finals in Doha, Qatar. It is the biggest nations event on European padel's calendar, and its opening day marks the last major opportunity for the continent's emerging powers to reach the marquee tournament.
Format and what is at stake
The European qualifier runs from 22 to 26 September at Padel G24, a 17-court indoor facility in Madrid. Both the men's and women's competitions offer two qualification spots each, meaning four European nations in total will book flights to Doha for the FIP World Cup running 2–7 November 2026. A simultaneous Asia-Africa qualifier is taking place in Kuwait this same week, where one further men's berth and one women's berth are on offer. When both qualifiers close on Friday, the 32-team World Cup field will be set.
Ten nations have already confirmed their Doha places through the 2026 FIP World Rankings and prior qualifying rounds, including events held in Toronto and Asunción earlier this summer. The pressure on the remaining contenders is therefore intense — this week in Madrid represents the last chance to enter the draw.
The competition field
Group-stage action determines who advances to the knockout rounds. Great Britain's women, led by world no. 91 Aimee Gibson and no. 93 Catherine Rose, begin in Group A alongside Serbia and Norway; the group winner earns a direct semi-final place. The British men, captained by Christian Medina Murphy (ranked 147th in the world), open in Group C against Moldova and Austria, with the group winner facing the winners of Group F — Romania, Greece, Ukraine and Czechia — in the quarter-finals.
Gibson enters the qualifier in strong form, having won a FIP Bronze event in Casablanca earlier this month and reached the Guimarães Silver final. Rose matched that momentum by lifting a FIP Bronze title in Turkey on the same weekend. Among the debutants, 16-year-old Chloe De La Mare is the youngest player on the British squad, while 22-year-old Theo Garton — whose parents both represented Great Britain — makes his senior debut on the men's side.
Spain as host and padel's continental depth
Madrid's role as host underlines Spain's central place in the global game. Padel G24's 17 courts allowed the FIP to schedule several matches simultaneously throughout Tuesday's opening session, and live streaming on the official FIP YouTube channel is available free of charge across all competition days.
The 29 countries competing represent the breadth of European padel's growth. Alongside traditional strongholds such as Spain, Italy and Sweden, nations including Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and Iceland are fielding squads this week — a snapshot of how far the sport has spread since its formal European expansion began in earnest. The FIP has not published full group standings after today's opening session, but results and order of play are updated in real time on padelfip.com.
Road to Doha
The knockout phase begins on Thursday 24 September, with semi-finals on Friday 25 and the decisive qualification matches on Saturday 26. Both of the day's finalists in each gender competition will earn their World Cup berth; losers of those semi-finals face a play-off for the second qualification spot.
The FIP World Cup finals in Doha (2–7 November) will see men's and women's draws of 16 nations each. Spain are the reigning women's world champions, having won gold in Buenos Aires earlier this month, while Argentina claimed the men's title at the same event — both will enter Doha as top seeds.