Spain's Padel Legends Head to Buenos Aires for Senior World Cup

First Senior World Cup in South America

The FIP Senior World Cup 2026 heads to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the first time, running from September 14–19. Spain has confirmed a 30-player squad — 15 men and 15 women — built around names that defined the sport across two decades of professional competition. The championship features five age categories: +40, +45, +50, +55 and +60, with 32 nations registered across all brackets. The Spanish Padel Federation announced the call-up on August 11, a day after the London P1 final, signalling that the national programme does not stop between premier events.

The choice of Buenos Aires carries particular resonance. Argentina is one of the great padel nations: the country that produced Agustín Tapia, Federico Chingotto, Martín Di Nenno and a long list of Premier Padel regulars also has enormous depth at the veteran level. Argentine club teams have historically been formidable across all senior age categories. The home crowd in Buenos Aires will be ferocious, which makes Spain's mission significantly more complicated than the trophy cabinet might suggest.

The Men's Squad: Household Names Back on Court

Men's selector Juanjo Gutiérrez has assembled a roster built on hard-won experience. Willy Lahoz, one of the most recognisable figures from Spain's golden generation of padel, leads the group alongside Enric Sanmartí, Gerard Company, Pitu Losada, José Limones, Aday Santana, Sergio Beracierto and Pablo Semprún, among others. Several of these players were World Padel Tour regulars at the highest level before transitioning to the senior circuit. In Buenos Aires, they face a specific challenge: Argentina won the men's title in the most recent edition, and the host-nation advantage is real.

The five age categories mean Spain will need depth across its entire roster. Winning the overall title requires consistency from the +40 bracket — where the competition is fiercest — through to the +60 category, where experience and tactical intelligence often outweigh athleticism. Gutiérrez has selected with that full spectrum in mind.

Women Arrive as Defending Champions

Spain's women come to Buenos Aires as the reigning world senior champions, with Carolina Navarro taking charge in her first official call-up as national women's selector. Navarro — a former world number one and one of the most respected analytical minds in the sport — selected Icíar Montes, Eva Gayoso, María Silvela, Lorena Alonso and Cristina Gago, among others, for the campaign. The women's goal is unambiguous: defend the title and demonstrate that Spain's senior programme remains the benchmark at global level.

Navarro's double role in this window is worth noting. She is simultaneously the selector for Spain's Mediterranean Games squad in Taranto (August 22–28) and is now leading the Buenos Aires campaign. Managing two separate national team squads in overlapping August-September preparations is a demanding brief that reflects the Federation's ambition to be competitive at every level of the international calendar.

A Growing Amateur Ecosystem Behind the Headlines

The Senior World Cup matters beyond the medals. In Spain, the number of registered players aged 40 and above has increased every year since 2021, and the national federation uses the event as a flagship for its veteran and recreational programme. For the hundreds of thousands of Spanish amateur players who picked up a racket in middle age and never looked back, Lahoz, Company and Gayoso competing in Buenos Aires are as much a point of inspiration as Coello and Triay winning on the Premier Padel tour.

The Buenos Aires event also feeds directly into the broader international calendar: the FIP World Cup Qualifiers for Europe are set for Madrid from September 22–26, where 29 nations will contest spots in the Doha final phase. Spain's 30-player squad will barely have time to land home from Argentina before the Federation's next major collective challenge begins.