Nearly 70 countries to participate in upcoming Pickleball World Cup in Florida

Alex Lantz

Director of Content

Last Edited

Oct 21 2025

Category

News

Siblings Hercilio and Miranda Cabieses couldn’t have imagined in 2023 what the Pickleball World Cup would become in just a few short years.

They started the event with a tournament called the Pilot Cup in 2023, which included 14 participating countries. They both admitted that the planning for that first year was a bit rushed, but even so they could see the potential for high-level pickleball on an international stage.

The next year – in 2024 – they hosted the first official Pickleball World Cup in their home country of Peru, with 32 delegations making the trip to Lima for an event that drew the attention of many in the pickleball space. The exciting team format showcased pickleball's potential as an international sport like never before.

This year the event is back and has seen even more growth, with 68 nations expected to participate in the open division, 52 countries in the senior division and close to 10 countries with teams signed up for a new junior division. The event will be held Oct. 27-Nov. 2 at The Fort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida -- marking the first time the tournament has been held in the United States.

“We never expected it to grow this fast,” Hercilio said. “We thought maybe we would get 48 countries this year, but to get 68 – that’s something we thought would take over 5 years. But it just shows how much pickleball is growing all over the world right now.”

As the size of the event has increased, so has the quality of the venue, and this year visiting players will be treated to the brand-new facility at The Fort, which features 43 courts and the world’s first-ever pickleball stadium. In addition to the Pickleball World Cup itself, there will also be a clinic with pro player Kyle Yates, an opening ceremonies event, referee certification classes, an individual tournament featuring multiple age divisions, a wheelchair event and more.

Hercilio and Miranda said it was important to bring the event to the U.S. this year – both because the U.S. is home to the largest block of players in the world, but also to show American players how far the rest of the world has come since pickleball started taking off internationally a couple years ago.

“We felt like bringing everybody to the states would be a good way to show off the international players and how much the sport is growing in all these other places,” Hercilio said.

The first steps toward pickleball in the Olympics

In addition to showcasing the growth of pickleball internationally, the Pickleball World Cup has provided proof of concept that the sport could potentially be a good fit for the Olympics someday.

The Cabieses siblings – through the Cabieses Foundation – have done a ton of work to grow the sport at the recreational level in Peru. They have donated paddles and nets to underprivileged youth and worked with parks and rec organizations to get courts built around the country. But they also have helped get pickleball recognized as an official sport by the Peruvian Olympic Committee.

“We want to help other countries get organized and have the sport recognized in that way, because that’s what will allow pickleball to become an Olympic sport,” Miranda said.

There has been plenty of evidence recently that the sport is heading that way, from record crowds at a recent pro event in Asia to the number of participants exploding on every continent – six continents will be represented at the Pickleball World Cup this year:

South America: 10 nations
North America and Caribbean: 20 nations
Europe: 22 nations
Asia: 11 nations
Africa: 2 nations
Oceana: 3 nations

“Right now we have courts going up everywhere in Peru,” Hercilio said. “They’re going in all of the tennis centers, public parks and people's houses. Everybody is realizing the growth of pickleball and the accessibility of it. So it’s just a matter of time – a very short time – before things start really heating up internationally.”

More news