Do the Best National Padel Players Form the Best Teams? Analysing the 2024 World Championships

Selection to a national team is a prestigious milestone, and the World Padel Championships showcase elite talent on a global stage. This study explored the relationship between national team quality—measured via individual FIP (Federacioón Internacional de Paádel, International Padel Federation) rankings and points—and final team placements at the 2024 World Padel Championships in Qatar. Data from 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams included final standings, average and median FIP rankings, and total and average FIP points. Pearson correlation and ANOVA were applied to average FIP rankings; due to non-normality, Spearman correlation and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used for total FIP points. Results indicated that top-ranked teams, such as Argentina, Spain, and Italy, had more players above the competition-wide ranking threshold, whereas teams like Uruguay and the USA had none. Balanced ranking distributions were observed in male teams such as Belgium and The Netherlands and in female teams such as Portugal and Argentina. A moderate positive correlation emerged between average team rankings and final placements for men, and a strong correlation for women. Total FIP points showed a very strong negative correlation with final rankings for both genders. In conclusion, individual player quality, as indicated by rankings and points, strongly correlates with team performance in the 2024 World Padel Championships.