Spain, Portugal and Italy secure double semifinal spots in Porto junior cup

Spain, Portugal and Italy each sent both their boys and girls into the semifinals at the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup in Porto, while Sweden and France filled the remaining places in the medal round. At the Padel Athletic Club facilities, the third edition of Europe’s junior team championship for Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 players became a clean snapshot of where the continent’s strongest youth systems are building depth.

Luigi Carraro used the Porto presentation to frame that ambition in stark terms, calling the event “the dawn of tomorrow’s champions” and saying investment in young players must remain a priority. The 2026 edition also sat inside a wider FIP push, with all junior continental cups staged in the same season for the first time across four continents.

The girls’ bracket told the clearest story of the established powers. Spain, Italy and Portugal had already reached the podium in 2024, and Sweden arrived as the disruption, coming through qualification, beating France 2-1 in Group B and then seeing off Estonia to claim second place. Spain then beat Portugal 3-0 to top Group A, with straight-set wins from Sola/Villegas, Ferrán/Vera and Verdejo/Martin. Italy matched that standard by beating France 3-0, recovering from a slow start in the Under-14 tie through Conti/Scarcella before Speziali/Caruso and Minelli/Giraldi closed out the sweep.

The boys’ side had a similar shape at the top, but with Spain setting the pace more emphatically. Spain finished the group stage perfect, with nine wins from nine matches, then beat Sweden 3-0 to keep its title defence on track before moving on to Italy in the semifinals. Italy earned its place by bouncing back from an opening defeat to France, beating Belgium and then closing group play with a 3-0 win over the Netherlands behind Temperini/Filetti, Rufo/Sarti and Giovannini/Indomenico. Portugal also advanced with a 3-0 win over Denmark and met France, who won Group B after a tie against Belgium.

The semifinal line-up, and then the finals on Saturday, July 4, showed the same pattern again: Spain repeated its double from 2024, with Italy in the women’s final and France in the men’s final, while Portugal’s home run and Sweden’s girls’ surge underscored how much the junior map in Europe is widening beyond the obvious favorite.