ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals 2026 format, schedule, scores
The 64 competing teams in each of the men’s and women’s events have been split into 16 groups of four teams each. The top two seeded groups, featuring the top seven teams plus hosts England, start in Stage 1a; the remaining teams play in Stage 1b.
Stage 1b is the first round of each tournament, with 14 groups of four teams each playing each other once. The 14 group winners, plus the six best second-placed teams (determined by win-loss ratio in team matches and individual matches), qualify for Stage 2. The remaining eight second-placed teams play an extra preliminary round of matches to determine four further qualifiers.
Stage 1a, meanwhile, takes place as a seeding round with two groups of four teams playing each other once. All eight teams progress to Stage 2.
Stage 2 is where the main draw starts, with a knockout single-elimination bracket reducing teams from the round of 32 onwards to the final.
Each team match is comprised of a best-of-five singles rubbers, with the match ending when one team seals three individual matches.
Dates and times are based on your device’s time.
The latest group standings can be found here (Stage 1a – Groups 1 and 2) and here (Stage 1b – Groups 3 through 16.