As in almost every edition of the men's world championships, the French team has set itself the goal of third place, behind Spain and Argentina, who seem destined for life to find themselves in the final for the title. For the French, this bronze medal is in their sights, but it is also coveted by other ambitious nations. In particular Italy, Portugal and Brazil.

France-Italy Duel: The European Rivalry

On the men's side, France will not be the favorite since it currently occupies (weight by nations) fourth place in the world behind Italy. This opposition is particularly anticipated by the fans, especially since France almost created a surprise during the last European Championships. The French team, led by Thomas Leygue, the 102nd player in the world, is counting on a strong homogeneity in its squad. Opposite, Italy has two players among the 100 best in the world: Aris Patiniotis (53) et Facundo Dominguez (60). A France vs Italy for 3rd place, where do we sign?

ItalyRankingFranceRanking
Aris Patiniotis53Thomas Leygue102
Facundo Dominguez60Bastien Blanqué121
Simone Cremona104Dylan Guichard120
Frame Cassetta105Johan Bergeron137
Giulio Grazzioti114Manuel Vives148
Lorenzo DiGiovanni125Maxime Joris171
Riccardo Sinicropi141Thomas Vanbauce178
Michael Bruno162Timeo Fonteny294

Brazil: An unbalanced but formidable team

Brazil remains a dangerous team despite a lack of consistency that cost them two years ago against Portugal, despite the presence at the time of Pablo Lima. The leading duo, composed of Lucas Campagnolo (26) et Lucas Bergamini (20), is formidable, but the rest of the team is further away from the world's best. We find Francisco Gomes (148), the left-hander, former partner of Jérémy Scatena, as well as figures from the APT Padel Tower and A1Padel, Such as Julio Julianoti, Joao Pedro Flores et Lucas da cunha.

BrazilRanking
Lucas Bergamini20
Lucas Campagnolo26
Francisco Gomes148
Lucas da cunha266
Matheus Simonato266
Joao Pedro Flores272
André Freitas376
Julio Julianoti510

Portugal: A threat to watch

Portugal, although ranked 11th in terms of "weight per nation", is a more than serious opponent for France. Led by the World No. 82 Antonio Luque, Pedro Aurojo (139) and the brothers DEUS, well known to the French public, Portugal does not have the same team depth. But, an association Luque / Araujo can do damage… And it is also she who brings back the 2nd decisive point during the Euro in Sardinia. If overall, France seemed better than Portugal, this strategy of the Portuguese team to bet everything on 2 pairs and to hope at the same time for a favorable configuration, in the position of the pairs, then obviously, Portugal is a serious contender for 3rd place. The other Portuguese players are located beyond the 150th place in the world, which can be a hindrance against more homogeneous teams.

PortugalRanking
Antonio Luque82
Miguel Deus108
Nuno deus117
Pedro Araujo139
Afonso Fazendeizo182
Diogo Jesus695
Pedro Perry1261
Vasco Pascoal1261

Sweden in a year of transition

For Sweden, who are behind Brazil in terms of weight per nation, the competition could be a turning point. The team is in a transition year, with young players coming on board. Despite this, France remain favourites in their possible future confrontations. Victor Stjern, a former national team player, will not be able to try to take revenge since his mandate within the Swedish team was not renewed. Daniel Windahl (67) et Simon vasquez (115) represent Sweden's best chances, but on paper, France seem better equipped.

SwedenRanking
Daniel Windahl67
Simon vasquez115
Albin Olsson185
Adam Axelsson199
linus frost257
Daniel Appelgren266
Douglas Rutgersson411
Willy Tiger Släryd442

United Arab Emirates: A team to watch

Finally, the United Arab Emirates, twelfth in weight by nation, count on a quartet of players, including Inigo Jofre (46) et Arnau Ayats (55). But with limited depth, the Emirates team still seems too far away from being able to compete with nations like France or Italy for third place in the world.

United Arab EmiratesRanking
Inigo Jofre46
Arnau Ayats55
Sergio Icardo135
Francis Jury284
Fares Aljanahi575
Abdulla Alabdulla780
Majed Aljanahi850
Salem Alhooli1261
Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.