Road to Doha: Three World Cup Spots Decided in Asunción

Three Berths, Five Nations, One Weekend in Paraguay

The FIP World Cup 2026 Qualifiers in Asunción, Paraguay, are in their decisive phase this weekend with three World Cup berths up for grabs. Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela are competing in a round-robin battle for the sole men's spot available at this stage, while Chile joins that group in a five-team women's draw fighting for two places. The World Cup itself takes place in Doha, Qatar, from November 2–7, 2026 — and with 74 days remaining on the clock, nine of the 32 available spots are still to be decided.

The qualifier runs August 20–22. Women's competition began on Thursday morning at 9:00 local time, with men's matches starting in the afternoon. Saturday's final round-robin fixtures will determine which nations secure their place in Doha.

Format and the Stakes for South American Padel

All teams in each gender category are placed in a single group, with every squad facing each other once. The final standings determine who earns a World Cup spot — a format that rewards consistent performance across three days rather than a single knockout moment, and gives smaller federations the chance to build momentum across consecutive matches rather than facing elimination on a bad afternoon.

Argentina and Brazil have already qualified as the dominant South American nations. This Asunción qualifier is the pathway for the next tier — nations that have invested seriously in national structures over the past five years and are now ready to compete at the sport's highest level. Paraguay host on home soil with federational backing, providing a slight logistical edge. Uruguay and Ecuador have both shown sustained progress on the FIP circuit at club and national level, while Venezuela enters with growing domestic infrastructure and a squad that has upset established rankings at previous qualifying events.

Chile, participating only in the women's draw, has built one of the most active national women's programmes outside the traditional padel powerhouses. Two spots in Doha represent a genuine prize for a federation that has worked methodically through the FIP's development framework.

The Broader Road to Doha

This Asunción event is the second of three continental qualifying rounds completing the 32-team World Cup draw. The first qualifier took place in Toronto in July, where Canada, Mexico, and the United States competed for North American spots. Two further events will close the process: a European qualifier in Madrid from September 22–26, with two spots available in each gender draw, and a combined Africa-Asia tournament that will award the remaining berths.

Spain and Argentina enter as co-favourites for the World Cup title on both the men's and women's sides, with France, Italy, and Brazil widely expected to challenge. For the South American nations competing in Asunción, a place in Doha means facing the world's best players in a format — and on a stage — that simply does not exist anywhere else in the calendar.

Watching from Anywhere

All matches at the Asunción qualifier are being live-streamed on the FIP's official YouTube channel. Updated results and standings are available at padelfip.com throughout the weekend. The three nations that seal qualification on Saturday August 22 will begin planning their squads for a November World Cup that is shaping up as the most-watched edition in the tournament's history — a reflection of padel's global expansion to 19 million players and more than 58,000 courts worldwide.

The FIP has structured the qualifying process to ensure genuine geographic diversity in the final World Cup draw, with separate pathways for the Americas, Europe, and the Africa-Asia zone. Saturday's results in Asunción will complete one more piece of that picture.