Rome Takes Center Stage
Presentation Press Conference on Wednesday the 25th at Palazzo Valentini
The magnificent and captivating setting of Rome, our Capital, will host the 5th edition of the Indoor World Championship starting Thursday, February 26. The event is organized, on behalf of the International Federation, by the Italian Tamburello Federation, under the patronage of the Ministry for Sport and Youth, the Lazio Region, the Lazio Regional Council, the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, and CONI, with the collaboration of Roma Tamburello MMXX.
The official presentation of the 2026 Indoor Tamburello World Championship will take place in Rome on Wednesday, February 25 at 6:00 PM in the prestigious “Di Liegro” Hall at Palazzo Valentini, in the presence of political and sports authorities.
The venues for this global event will be the Palatorrino, Palatolive, and Palapellicone arenas, the latter hosting the big matches.
This will be the highlight event of the year, featuring fourteen nations from four continents, confirming a dynamic and steadily growing movement beyond European borders. Notably, Brazil will represent South America, Benin Africa, and China Asia.
For Europe, in addition to Italy, participating nations include Belgium, Catalonia, France, Germany, England, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, and Hungary.
Title Holders: France (Men) and Italy (Women)
The reigning world champions are France in the men’s competition and Italy in the women’s, both winners in 2023 in the Lombardy-Veneto region.
Competition Begins Thursday, February 26
14 nations in the men’s tournament, 9 in the women’s
Fourteen teams will compete in the men’s event, divided into three qualification groups:
- Group A: Catalonia, Benin, England, China
- Group B: Brazil, Spain, Hungary, Sweden
- Group C: Germany, Portugal, San Marino, Belgium
The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. France and Italy, respectively first and second in 2023, will enter directly into the round of 16, facing respectively the second-best third-place team and the best third-place team from the qualification groups.
In the women’s event, nine teams are divided into two groups:
- Group F: Italy, Brazil, Catalonia, Benin, England
- Group G: France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. Third-place teams will compete for 5th–6th place, while fourth-place teams will compete for 7th–8th place.
The competition will begin Thursday morning with the qualification phase.
Qualification matches will conclude between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. The Italian and French men’s national teams will play their round of 16 matches on Friday afternoon. Saturday will feature the men’s quarterfinals and semifinals, as well as the women’s semifinals. Sunday morning will host placement finals, and in the afternoon, the World Championship finals.
As part of the event, youth matches will also take place between the Under-16 teams of Italy, Catalonia, and Germany. This represents another step—following the 2016 European Youth Championship—toward further promoting indoor activity at the youth level beyond national borders.