The FFT men's rankings of March 2026 allow us to observe a very clear geography of French padel.
Some leagues concentrate a significant portion of the best players in the country, while others remain much more marginal in the Top 100.

Analysis of the leagues associated with the players shows a  clear dominance of a few major historical regions of French padel .

NB: there may be small errors due to the issue of assimilated / foreign players which sometimes complicate the analysis.

The leagues most represented in the Top 100

Here is the order of the leagues  the most represented in the French Top 100 .

1/ Île-de-France

The Paris region remains a major player in the rankings.

It includes in particular:

  • Thomas Leygue
  • Bastien Blanqué
  • Julien Seurin
  • Robin Roux
  • Baptiste Grodenic

The Île-de-France region benefits from:

  • of a large number of licensed members
  • a high volume of tournaments
  • major clubs such as  Casa PadelForest Hill, Pyramids or 4Padel .

It's today  the league with the highest concentration of competitive players She also owes it to Casa Padel which brought back not only players like Sanyo, but also the Frenchman, Bastien Blanqué.

2/ Occitanie

It includes, among other things:

  • Timeo Fonteny
  • Yoan Boronad
  • Isaac huysveld
  • Johan Peloux
  • Benoît Théard
  • Lucien Samitier
  • Pierre Samitier

This strong presence can be explained by several factors:

  • another  Padel culture is well established in the South 
  • many historic clubs
  • a high level of tournament activity.

Occitanie appears today as  one of the main training grounds for French padel .

3/ New Aquitaine

This league also appears very active in the rankings.

It includes, among other things:

  • Inigo Jofre
  • Nicolas Rouanet
  • Maxime Joris
  • Teo Larrue
  • Matthew Armagnac

The region benefits from strong momentum around cities such as:

  • Bordeaux
  • La Rochelle
  • Bayonne
  • Pau.

It is gradually establishing itself as  a major territory of French padel .

4/ Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

The PACA region remains a historical stronghold of French padel.

Several players in the Top 100 are associated with it:

  • Lucas Campagnolo
  • Florian Armand
  • Valentin Pasquier
  • Mattis Perrot

The region benefits:

  • of a strong proximity to Spain
  • from the early development of padel
  • numerous high-level tournaments.

PACA remains  one of the major centers of French padel for over 10 years .

5/ Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

This league is also among the most represented.

Several players in the Top 100 are associated with it:

  • Simon vasquez
  • Johan Bergeron
  • Lucas Potel
  • Quentin Perrin
  • Antoine Du Gardin

The region has a very dense network of clubs around:

  • Lyon
  • Grenoble
  • Annecy
  • Clermont-Ferrand.

In the intermediate leagues

Behind these dominant regions, several leagues regularly appear in the Top 100.

Hauts-de-France

  • Clement Geens
  • Loris Morvan

Pays de la Loire

  • Alexandre Boilevin
  • Matthieu Truong

Grand East

  • Yanis Muesser
  • William Olivier
  • Teri Groll

Normandy

  • Guilhem Perez Le Tiec
  • Matthew Paumard

These leagues remain less represented but  regularly produce competitive players .

The leagues with the fewest representatives

Some leagues appear much less frequently in the Top 100:

  • Britain
  • Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
  • Corsica
  • Center-Val de Loire.

This is often explained by:

  • a more limited number of clubs
  • a less dense tournament circuit
  • a more recent practice of padel.

The geography of padel is heavily influenced by the South

The overall analysis reveals a clear phenomenon:

 Southern France still largely dominates national padel. 

Between :

  • Occitanie
  • PACA
  • Nouvelle Aquitaine

These regions represent a very large proportion of the Top 100 players.

This trend can be explained by several factors:

  1.  proximity to Spain , the leading country for padel
  2.  older development of clubs 
  3.  favorable climatic conditions for outdoor fields .

A gradual rise in Île-de-France

Even though the South remains dominant,  the Paris region is progressing very quickly .

With the proliferation of indoor clubs and tournaments, the Île-de-France region is gradually becoming  one of the main centers of French padel .


Distribution of Top 100 players by league (March 2026)

Here is  the order of the most represented leagues  in the men's Top 100.

Call usNumbers of playersPart of the Top 100
Ile-de-France21 players 21% 
Occitanie18 players 18% 
Nouvelle Aquitaine14 players 14% 
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur13 players 13% 
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes11 players 11% 
Pays de la Loire7 players7%
Grand East5 players5%
Hauts-de-France4 players4%
Britain3 players3%
Normandy2 players2%
Centre-Val de Loire1 player1%
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté1 player1%

If we were to represent it visually:

  •  Île-de-France: 21% 
  •  Occitanie: 18% 
  •  New Aquitaine: 14% 
  •  PACA: 13% 
  •  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: 11% 
  •  Other leagues combined: 23% 

 The top 5 leagues therefore represent approximately 77% of the French Top 100 .

This is a very strong figure for analysis.

The major trends that this reveals

Île-de-France has become the leading French padel league

With  more than one in five players in the Top 100 The Paris region is today  the first pool of competitive players .

This can be explained by:

  • the density of indoor clubs
  • the number of registered players
  • the frequency of tournaments.
  • But also clubs that have managed to attract players, particularly during interclub competitions, starting with Casa Padel Uno

The South remains the historical heart of padel

If we add them together:

  • Occitanie
  • PACA
  • Nouvelle Aquitaine

we arrive at  45% of the French Top 100 .

This confirms that  The South remains the main source of top-level players .

The reasons are well known:

  • favorable climate for outdoor fields
  • cultural proximity with Spain
  • older development of padel.

A very strong Southwest axis

Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine together represent  32% of the Top 100 .

It's today  the most productive corridor in terms of padel players  in France.

Some regions still remain marginal.

Several leagues include  fewer than 3 players in the Top 100  :

  • Normandy
  • Britain
  • Centre-Val de Loire
  • Burgundy-Franche-Comte.

This often reflects:

  • a more limited number of clubs
  • a more recent development of padel.

Another interesting indicator for your article

If we group the leagues together:

  • South (Occitanie + PACA + Nouvelle-Aquitaine):  45% of the Top 100 
  • Parisian region :  21% 
  • Rest of France:  34% 

Analysis of the FFT men's rankings for March 2026 shows a  French padel is very concentrated in its geography .

Two poles clearly dominate:

  •  the South of France , the historical birthplace of national padel
  •  France's Island , which has become the leading pool of competitive players thanks to the proliferation of indoor clubs.

On their own,  Five leagues account for more than three-quarters of the Top 100 This proves that the development of padel remains very uneven across different regions.

Team Padel Mag

The team Padel Magazine has been trying to offer you the best of padel since 2013, but also surveys and analyses to try to understand the world of padel. From the game to the politics of our sport, Padel Magazine is at your service.