World Team Cup beginner's guide: Format, scoring, history & more

The BNP Paribas World Team Cup is World Tennis’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event and is the wheelchair equivalent of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.

Here's an essential guide to the World Team Cup, including its history, format, teams, and British successes.

History of the World Team Cup

First held in 1985 in Irvine, California, the World Team Cup brought together players from different countries to give them match experience ahead of the US Open Wheelchair Championships, some 20 years before wheelchair tennis first became an integral part of US Open Grand Slam in New York.

In 1985, there was only a men’s event, while two women’s players from France and the Netherlands played in a men’s draw featuring just six nations. The first women’s event was held in 1986, while a quad event was first held in 1998, followed by the first junior event in 2000.

What is the structure of the 2026 World Team Cup?

The best-performing teams from the men’s, women’s and quad events at the 2025 World Team Cup earned direct qualification for this year’s World Team Cup, including each of the three Great Britain men’s, women’s and quad teams.

The 2026 World Team Cup kick-started with four regional qualification events for Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, from which 10 teams – four men’s and women’s teams, and two quad teams – have qualified for this year’s World Team Cup finals in Orlando.  

There is no junior event in Orlando this year as, for the first time this year, there has already been a first standalone junior World Team Cup competition with separate boys’ and girls’ events and Great Britain winning the boys’ event.

What is the scoring format for the World Team Cup?

While the World Team Cup has undergone various format changes over the course of the last 40 years, this year’s edition during the 50th anniversary year of wheelchair tennis will see the latest evolution as the men’s, women's and quad events.

The World Team Cup will now be a straight knockout competition from the start of the tournament - replacing the round-robin groups in previous years.

Also new for 2026, the men’s and women’s events will both be contested by 12 teams, while the quad event will remain an eight-nation tournament.

Who won the World Team Cup titles in 2025?

Japan won the men’s World Team Cup title for the fourth time in 2025, with four-time champions Great Britain winning the bronze medal after being beaten by Japan in the semi-finals.

The Netherlands won the women’s event for a record-extending 34^th time in 2025, with Great Britain narrowly missing out on a medal to France following a semi-final loss to Japan.

The Netherlands also won the quad event for the fourth time in five years last year, while the Great Britain quad team won the bronze medal after defeating Australia 2-1.

 

How many players are in each World Team Cup team?

Each nation assembles a team of three or four players, with the country captain deciding which players will compete in the two singles matches and one doubles match that make up each tie.

For 2026, the Lexus Great Britain World Team Cup team selected for Orland consists of nine players, with  three players selected for each of the men’s, women’s and quad events

Great Britain’s history in the World Team Cup

Great Britain has contested all but one World Team Cup men’s event since 1986. A Great Britain men’s team has won the World Team Cup men’s title on four occasions in the last 11 years.

Great Britain first contested the women’s event in 1992. GB women’s teams have won a series of silver and bronze medals during their World Team Cup campaigns, first reaching the final in 2009, and subsequently also winning silver medals in 2013 and 2014.

Since the first World Team Cup quad event was held in 1998, while also winning the quad title in 2001, 2002, 2009, 2014 and 2017.