FIP World Cup Qualifiers Europe, Day 3. Germany and Great Britain win again. Final stage with four places for Doha at stake begins

MADRID – After three days of intense action on court, with more than 50 men’s and women’s group-stage matches played, the FIP World Cup Qualifiers Europe, currently taking place in Madrid, enters its decisive phase. The teams finishing top of each group have secured their place in the knockout stage, which will begin on Friday 25 September (Day 4). Eight men’s and six women’s teams will compete for qualification for the World Cup in Qatar, scheduled to take place from 2 to 7 November. Four places in Doha are at stake in the European qualifying event: two in each category.

 

WOMEN’S Great Britain, Germany, Romania, Poland, Denmark and Greece: these are the national teams that, having finished top of their respective groups, have earned a place in the women’s final stage. Germany and Great Britain, winners of Groups A and B, which featured the tournament’s top seeds, will receive a bye in the first knockout round and will play directly on Saturday 26 September in the decisive matches for the two places in Qatar. Great Britain will face the winner of Romania-Poland, scheduled for Day 4. Also on Friday 25 September, Denmark and Greece will face each other: the winner will take on Germany in Saturday’s decisive match, with the other place at the Women’s World Cup at stake.

 

The final day of the group stage (Day 3) saw Germany and Great Britain claim victories over Türkiye and Serbia respectively, both by 3-0. Ukraine, Poland and Denmark also recorded 3-0 victories. Greece secured a positive result against Slovenia: after losing the first match of the tie, victories for the Ntanou/Adamopoulou and Stavroulaki/Malamou pairs secured qualification for the Greek players. Bulgaria emerged victorious from their match against Ireland, winning 2-1.

 

MEN’S The eight national teams that finished top of their respective men’s groups are Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Belgium, Ukraine, Denmark and Poland. These teams will compete for the two places available in Qatar. On Friday 25 September (Day 4), the four matches will be played to determine the two decisive Saturday fixtures. The winner of Netherlands-Poland will face the winner of Belgium-Bulgaria. In the other decisive tie, the winners of Great Britain-Ukraine and Denmark-Germany will face each other.

 

Day 3 brought further confirmation. Germany and Great Britain ended the final day of the group stage as they had started it: with a 3-0 victory. Germany defeated Lithuania, while Great Britain overcame Moldova. Also with a clear 3-0 victory, the Netherlands secured top spot in the group by defeating Estonia in the decisive Group A match. Denmark, Slovenia, Ukraine and Belgium also recorded 3-0 victories. Croatia and Greece completed the day’s results, defeating Serbia and the Czech Republic 2-1.

 

DAY 4 SCHEDULE Six matches will be played on the first day of the final stage of the FIP World Cup Qualifiers. From 9am local time, Madrid will host the women’s matches Romania-Poland and Denmark-Greece. The four men’s matches concluding the day’s programme will begin at 12pm at the earliest. The matches will be available to watch on the FIP YouTube channel.