Draw ceremony for ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 will be held on Monday

The draw ceremony for the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 will take place on Monday at 7 a.m. EST.

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The 64 Men's teams and 64 Women's teams that qualified for the ITTF World Cup 2026 will be drawn into 16 groups of four teams per gender (32 groups total). Two groups in each gender will compete in Stage 1a, and the remaining 14 will play during Stage 1b.

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Stage 1a will consist of the top seven seeds, plus the host nation of England. The top two teams will headline each group, and the other six spots will be determined in Monday’s draw ceremony.

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China (1M, 1W) will lead Group 1 in both tournaments. France (2M) will lead Group 2 for the Men’s tournament, while Japan (2W) will headline Group two for the Women’s tournament.

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Japan (4M, 2W), France (2M, 5W), Chinese Taipei (7M, 6W), South Korea (5M, 3W), Germany (6M, 4W), England (8M, 8W) will compete in Stage 1a for both tournaments. Sweden (3M) will join the men, while Romania (7W) will compete alongside the women.

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Monday’s ceremony will also decide the groups for Stage 1b. The teams ranked 9-22 will headline each of the remaining groups (in order of their ranking), and a draw based on ranking will decide the other three spots.

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The team with the best record in each group will progress to the Main Draw (Stage 2), as well as the six best teams that finished in second place. The other eight second-place teams will compete in a four-match knockout round, with the winners of each match taking the final four spots.

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Each of the eight teams in Stage 1a will automatically advance to the Round of 32, regardless of performance.

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This year marks the 100th anniversary of the World Championships, which began in London. The World Championships alternate between individual and team events every year, with the last team event taking place in Busan, South Korea.

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China won both gold medals in Busan, with France and Japan taking home silver medals for the Men’s and Women’s tournaments, respectively. South Korea and Chinese Taipei shared the Men’s bronze medal, while France and Hong Kong won bronze for the Women’s tournament.

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The ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 will be held from April 28 to May 10.