Published: February 23, 2026 at 6:02 pm
France are on the rise as their strength in men’s team events catapulted them to fifth seeding at the BWF Thomas Cup Finals 2026 in April. The emerging powerhouses made history over the weekend by winning the 2026 European Men’s Championships beating Denmark in the final.
The seeding was based on the World Rankings of the top three men’s singles and top two men’s doubles pairs of that country as on February 17, 2026. With No.5 Christo Popov, No.8 Alex Lanier and No.17 Toma Junior Popov (men’s singles), and No.22 Popov/Popov and No.41 Eloi Adam/Leo Rossi (men’s doubles) in their ranks, France had 2,94,610 points, ahead of fellow European powers Denmark.
Qualifiers to the BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2026 were determined by the respective men’s and women’s team continental championships. Semifinalists from the Asian and European championships, and winners of the African, Pan Am and Oceania championships, qualified along with the hosts and defending champions, with the rest of the 16 spots determined by the teams’ World Ranking.
One spot below France are Denmark, with cumulative World Ranking points of 2,91,602 thanks to No.3 Anders Antonsen, No.23 Rasmus Gemke and No.43 Magnus Johannessen in singles and No.10 Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and No.24 Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard in doubles.
Defending champions China are seeded No.1 as they have the highest points of 3,90,513, while Asian champions Japan are seeded fourth with 3,04,891 points.
Algeria (African champions), Australia (Oceania) and Canada (Pan Am) qualified as the respective continental winners, while Malaysia, India and Thailand qualified on the basis of World Ranking.
Bulgaria win team title for the first time
In the Uber Cup, Bulgaria, who made history by winning the European women’s team title for the first time, qualified along with runners-up Denmark, and the other two semifinalists Ukraine and Turkiye.
Asian champions Korea, runners-up China (also Uber Cup defending champions), and semifinalists Chinese Taipei and Indonesia qualified from Asia, as did African champions South Africa, Pan Am champions Canada, and Oceania champions Australia. The remaining spots based on World Ranking were taken by Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, India and France.
Pics: BadmintonPhoto
The BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2026 will be held in the Danish city of Horsens from April 24 to May 3. The group stage draw will be held on March 18.
