Quick Answer

The FIP World Cup is padel's national-team world championship. It runs 2-7 November 2026 at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha, with 16 men's and 16 women's teams. A nation wins a tie by taking two of three doubles matches. Argentina and Spain are the only nations that have ever won it. The story of this edition is a split: Spain's Arturo Coello and Argentina's Agustín Tapia, the world No.1 pair, will be opponents. So will Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea, the women's No.1 pair.

Last updated: October 2026 · Squads, qualifiers and dates verified at time of writing.

Partners Who Become Opponents

On the Premier Padel tour, the best pairs often mix flags. Arturo Coello was born in Mojados, Spain. Agustín Tapia comes from Catamarca, Argentina. They have been partners since February 2023 and are the world No.1 pair. In Doha they play for different nations.

The split runs through the top of the sport:

  • Alejandro Galán (Spain) and Federico Chingotto (Argentina): the world No.2 pair.
  • Juan Lebrón (Spain) and Leo Augsburger (Argentina): the No.3 pair on tour in September.
  • Gemma Triay (Spain) and Delfina Brea (Argentina): the women's No.1 pair, together since February 2025.

All of them are in their national squads. For a week, the tour's closest partnerships become national rivalries. Argentina's men are the reigning champions. Spain's men lost the 2024 final to them.

What the World Cup Is

The FIP World Cup is run by the International Padel Federation (FIP) with the Qatar Padel Federation. Players represent their country, not their usual partner. This is the 18th edition. It was known as the World Padel Championships until 2026, when FIP renamed it.

The Premier Padel tour works differently. There, two players enter as a pair and earn ranking points. At the World Cup, each nation names a squad of eight, which gives it four pairs to choose from. The prize fund is a record €1.2 million, split equally between the men's and women's competitions.

How the Format Works

There are two separate competitions, one for men and one for women. Each has 16 teams, split into four groups of four. Every team plays the other three in its group in a round robin.

The top two from each group go into the title bracket: quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. The teams that finish third and fourth play a second bracket for positions 9 to 16. Nobody goes home after the groups.

Each tie between two nations has three doubles matches:

  • The three matches must be played by different pairs.
  • Each match is best of three sets.
  • The nation that wins two matches wins the tie.
  • If a nation wins the first two, the third match is not played.

That last rule is a change in practice. In early editions all three matches were played even after the tie was decided, which is why older finals show 3-0 scores. FIP's regulations are dated 28 November 2025. The order of the three matches inside a tie is not published in the sources checked for this article.

The group draw has not been made yet. FIP has not published the groups. In 2024 the draw was held at the venue the day before play began, so expect the same pattern.

How Nations Get There

Of the 16 places per gender, 10 were allocated in advance. Nine went to the best-placed nations of 2024 and one to Qatar as host. Four continental qualifiers decided the other six.

  • Europe (Madrid, 22-26 September): four places in total. Men: the Netherlands and Germany. Women: Great Britain and Germany. 55 national teams from 29 countries competed.
  • North and Central America (Toronto/Mississauga, 31 July-2 August): men's places for the USA and Mexico, a women's place for the USA.
  • South America (Asunción, 20-22 August): a men's place for Paraguay, women's places for Paraguay and Chile.
  • Asia-Africa (Kuwait, 26-30 October): one men's place and one women's place, still undecided.

That leaves the field at 15 of 16 confirmed per gender. The last two nations are known only after 30 October, three days before the competition begins.

Who's Coming to Doha

Fifteen teams per gender are confirmed as of 15 October.

Men (15 of 16): Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the UAE, Brazil, France, Chile, Sweden, Qatar (host), the USA, Mexico, Paraguay, the Netherlands, Germany.

Women (15 of 16): Spain, Argentina, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Brazil, Belgium, Qatar (host), the USA, Paraguay, Chile, Great Britain, Germany.

Only the Spanish and Argentine squads are fully sourced for this article. Both have eight players per gender.

Spain men (coach Juanjo Gutiérrez): Alejandro Galán, Arturo Coello, Juan Lebrón, Paquito Navarro, Coki Nieto, Mike Yanguas, Jon Sanz and Aimar Goñi. Spain's coach has said Galán and Lebrón will play together in Doha.

Spain women (coach Carolina Navarro): Gemma Triay, Ari Sánchez, Bea González, Martina Calvo, Paula Josemaría, Claudia Fernández, Andrea Ustero and Marta Ortega. Alejandra Salazar missed the cut.

Argentina men (coaches Gaby Reca and Rodrigo Ovide): Agustín Tapia, Federico Chingotto, Leo Augsburger, Franco Stupaczuk, Martín Di Nenno, Tino Libaak, Maxi Arce and Gonzalo Alfonso. Arce and Alfonso are debutants.

Argentina women: Delfina Brea, Claudia Jensen, Aranzazu Osoro, Martina Fassio, María Laura Ferreyra, Virginia Riera, Julieta Bidahorria and Victoria Vilches.

One doubt hangs over Spain. Coki Nieto is in the squad, but he withdrew from Düsseldorf and from Milano P1 with a physical problem, explicitly to be fit for Doha. No return date has been set, and his participation is open.

The Storylines

Spain's women are the benchmark. They have won six straight world titles, from 2014 to 2024. Argentina's last women's title was in 2012. Argentina were the 2024 runners-up.

Argentina's men chase a 13th title. They are the reigning champions and the most successful nation, with 12. Spain's men have four (1998, 2008, 2010, 2021) and have never won the men's title at home.

The partners. Galán and Chingotto, Lebrón and Augsburger, Coello and Tapia: each pair is split across the Spain-Argentina line. Stupaczuk and Sanz, who formed a pair in August 2026, are split the same way. Di Nenno and Navarro are another Argentine-Spanish pairing on the 2026 tour.

Argentina's new faces. Maxi Arce and Gonzalo Alfonso are debutants. Sanyo Gutiérrez and Álex Chozas, who played in 2024, were dropped.

History and Reigning Champions

The first World Cup was played in 1992 in Madrid and Sevilla. Argentina, Spain and Uruguay had created the FIP in Madrid in July 1991. The first men's draw had eight nations.

Only two nations have ever won a title:

Men Women
Argentina 12 8
Spain 4 9

The 2018 men's title was declared vacant because the final was not played. Spain's men won in 1998, 2008, 2010 and 2021. Argentina's men won every other edition that was completed, including 2022 and 2024.

The reigning champions come from the 2024 edition in Doha. Argentina's men beat Spain 2-1. Valentino Libaak and Leo Augsburger, aged 19 and 20, won the deciding match past midnight against Paquito Navarro and Mike Yanguas, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. Spain's women beat Argentina 2-0.

Doha also hosted the 2021 edition, where Spain won both titles. The 2022 edition moved to Dubai about seven weeks before it started.

How to Follow

Venue: the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha, with matches on the Centre Court and side courts. The same complex has hosted the Qatar Major every year since 2022.

Tickets: sold on qatarpadel.com (card only) and through the official ticketing platform. Prices start at 50 QAR, and VIP tickets at about 350 QAR. The box office near the public entrance is open daily from 10:00 to 21:00. Sessions run over six days, starting at 09:00.

Broadcast: beIN Media Group holds the rights to the 2026 World Cup in 39 territories, including MENA, Türkiye, Asia-Pacific and North America. FIP has streamed world-championship sessions on its YouTube channel before. A free global stream for November has not been confirmed, so check the FIP live page closer to the event.

Do not rely on the Premier Padel "where to watch" lists. They cover the tour, not necessarily the World Cup.

Don't Confuse the Three Events

Three different competitions share the word "world" or the same sport. Readers mix them up.

Event Dates Place Who plays
FIP World Cup 2-7 November 2026 Doha National teams, 16 men's and 16 women's
Premier Padel Finals 10-13 December 2026 Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona The tour's top eight pairs
FIP Senior World Cup 14-19 September 2026 (finished) Buenos Aires Over-40s, in five age bands from 40+ to 60+

The Senior World Cup already happened. Argentina's men beat Spain 3-2, and Spain's women beat the USA 3-0 for a fourth straight Senior title. Those are Senior titles. They do not count towards the 12 and 4 men's totals above.

The FIP calendar lists the World Cup as running from 1 November. That is the arrival and draw day. Matches are played 2-7 November.

Sources