Asian and European nations book their places at London 2026!

October 16, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

The continental championships currently taking place around the world will see a total of 52 teams book their places at next year’s ITTF World Team Championships in London.

There are 16 spots in each gender available via both the Asian Championships and European Championships, with eight in each of the African and American Championships.

The ITTF Oceania Championships has already taken place, with Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Tahitiâ€s menâ€s teams earning their spots, as did Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Cook Islands in the womenâ€s competitions.

The team tournaments at the continental championships in Africa and the Americas will finish on Sunday. The remaining 12 places at London 2026 go to England as hosts, plus 11 places from the world team rankings.

Asia

Powerhouse China lead the list of 16 Asian nations to qualify for the centenary ITTF World Team Championships 2026 in London.

Both the menâ€s and womenâ€s teams are defending champions and therefore did not need to qualify for London, but both took their customary continental titles at the Asia Championships in Bhubaneswar, India.

Among the other nations to qualify both menâ€s and womenâ€s teams are Japan, South Korea, India, Chinese Taipei, North Korea and Malaysia (pictured above).

The full list of qualifying nations is:

Men
China (reigning world champions)
Regional champions: Bahrain (west Asia), Kazakhstan (central Asia), India (south Asia)
Via continental championships: Japan, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, North Korea, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Qatar, Mongolia, Uzbekistan

Women
China (reigning champions)
Regional champions: Syria (west Asia), Kazakhstan (central Asia), India (south Asia)
Via continental championships: Japan, Singapore, South Korea, North Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Iran, Sri Lanka, Macau, Mongolia

Although China winning both continental titles is not a surprise, the menâ€s team had an almighty scare in an incredible semi-final against Japan.

Every match went to five games and China had to come from 2-0 down to take their place in the final. Tomokazu Harimoto (WR 4) put Japan in front by beating Liang Jingkun 12-10, 11-13, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9 and Sora Matsushima (WR 16) then sunk world No 1 Wang Chuqin 8-11, 11-4, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7.

World No 2 Lin Shidong started the comeback as he beat Hiroto Shinozuka (WR 31) 12-14, 11-2, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6 and Wang then beat Harimoto 8-11, 11-1, 11-9, 13-15, 11-8.

World No 7 Liang then clinched the gold as he came from 2-1 down to beat Matsushima 8-11, 13-11, 11-13, 11-4, 11-3. China went on to defeat Hong Kong 3-0 in the final.

In contrast, Chinaâ€s women came through to take the title without dropping a game, culminating in a 3-0 win over Japan in the final.

Europe

Spain celebrate their qualification

France women’s 3-0 victory over Slovenia in the play-off for 17th position on Thursday night earned them the final qualifying spot.

With England finishing inside the top 16 but not needing to qualify, as host nation for London 2026, 17th place also earned a spot.

Third seeds France had a disastrous group stage, with defeats to both France and Netherlands consigning them to the play-offs. But victories over Wales, Turkey and Slovenia, all 3-0, meant they salvaged their tournament.

The full list of qualifying nations is:

Men
France, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Belgium, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Denmark, Poland, Greece, Serbia, Moldova, Turkey.

Women
Germany, Romania, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Croatia, Slovakia, Austria, Czechia, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary, Ukraine, Spain, England, Serbia, France

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