African table tennis powerhouses Nigeria and Egypt will find out their opponents for the 2026 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships on Monday, (today), as they lead the continent’s challenge at the tournament scheduled to take place in London from April 28 to May 10.
The official draw ceremony will be held at The Shard — London’s tallest building — formally unveiling the matchups for what is expected to be a historic edition of the championships.
In the men’s event, 12 African teams will compete among 64 nations battling for global honours, while the women’s competition will feature 11 African teams in a similarly sized field. The tournament coincides with the centenary anniversary of the International Table Tennis Federation.
Overall, 52 teams per gender qualified through their respective continental championships, with an additional 11 securing spots via the November 2025 world rankings. Host nation England completes the 64-team lineup in both categories.
Nigeria booked their place in the London championships following commanding performances at the 2025 ITTF Africa Championships in Tunis, Tunisia. The three-time African champions recorded convincing 3–0 victories over Cameroon and South Africa in Group B to seal qualification.
Alongside Nigeria and Egypt, Africa’s representatives in the men’s division include Benin, Tunisia, Algeria, Togo, Madagascar, Morocco, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and Angola. The women’s field will feature Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Madagascar, Algeria, Tunisia, Uganda, South Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Exactly a century after the inaugural ITTF World Table Tennis Championships were staged in England in 1926, the competition returns to its birthplace for a landmark celebration of the sport’s global growth.
The 2026 championships will be contested over 13 days at two iconic London venues, with 64 men’s and 64 women’s teams in action. The competition will follow a three-stage format, beginning with Stage 1B group matches to determine qualification pathways, followed by Stage 1A seeding matches for top-ranked teams, before culminating in Stage 2 knockout rounds featuring the world’s elite teams.