Paraguay Names Its World Championship Squad for Doha 2026

A top-five finish at a World Padel Championship is a bold target for any nation. For Paraguay, arriving in Doha this November, it is the stated mission, and the squad they have assembled suggests they mean it.

The 2026 World Padel Championship runs from 2 to 7 November in Doha, Qatar, and Paraguay has now confirmed the 16 players, split across men's and women's categories, who will carry the red, white and blue into competition. The federation's goal is explicit: cement Paraguay's status as an emerging power and land inside the top five of the final standings.

The Men's Side: Paraguay's Strongest Card

On paper, the men's team is where Paraguay carries the most weight. Captain Diego González leads a group that the federation believes can go toe-to-toe with established nations like Chile, France, Italy and Great Britain, four sides that have historically occupied the upper end of the world rankings.

The eight-man roster is built around names that regular followers of the international circuit will recognise immediately:

• Martín Abud
• Facundo Dehnikе
• Mariano González
• Adrián Miranda
• Samuel Miltos
• Matías Popovich
• Pierre Petit
• Sebastián Rodríguez

That is a squad with genuine depth across different playing styles, which matters in a tournament format where consistency across multiple matches is as important as peak performance in any single tie.

The Women's Team: Eight Players, One Captain

The women's side, captained by Rubén Duarte, is equally well-stocked. Paraguay has invested steadily in its women's programme and the Doha squad reflects that progression:

• Olga Bareiro
• Jaidy Castillo
• Verónica Cepede
• Alejandra García
• Johanna Griffith
• Yuri Kudo
• Camila Miranda
• Mariana Salsamendiо

Verónica Cepede is likely to be the most familiar name to international audiences, given her long career on the professional tour. Her presence alongside a younger group of players is exactly the kind of experience-youth blend that tends to perform well in multi-day championship formats.

Paraguay's target is clear: consolidate as one of the emerging powers and secure a place in the top five of the final standings at the World Championship in Doha.

What makes this squad selection interesting from a tactical standpoint is the balance between players who compete regularly on the international professional circuit and those whose game has been forged primarily in South American competition. That mix often produces unpredictable results at Worlds, where fitness, adaptability and team cohesion across a week of play can outweigh individual ranking points.

Paraguay sits in an interesting position in the global padel hierarchy right now. The nation is not yet considered a frontline title contender in the way Spain or Argentina are, but it is clearly past the stage of simply making up the numbers. A genuine top-five finish in Doha would mark a significant step in that progression and give the federation a concrete platform to build towards future editions.

With just under a month until the first ball is struck in Qatar, the focus will shift to preparation camps and tactical planning under the two captains. Both González and Duarte will know that the draw and the bracket can play as big a role as squad quality at this level. Getting matches in the right order, managing player workloads across five days of competition, and peaking at the knockout stages rather than the group phase, these are the variables that separate a quarter-final exit from a podium place.

For anyone tracking the rise of padel beyond its traditional strongholds, Paraguay in Doha is a fixture worth watching closely.