England men faced Brazil in the Round of 16 in the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 Presented by ACN at OVO Arena Wembley knowing a quarter-final against France awaited the victors.

The opening match up of this fixture saw Tom Jarvis come up against world number 5 Hugo Calderano.

Having traded points early in the first game, it was the Brazilian who made the decisive break to take it 11-6 and establish the early lead. It was a similar story in the second game as Jarvis had Calerano pulling out some high-class defensive play, but the Brazilian had enough in his locker to hang on where he needed to and to attack here he could to establish the 2-0 lead thanks to an 11-8 win.

Not wanting to be outdone at a home championships, Jarvis showed his resolve and technical ability in the third game as he forged a 9-5 lead. Calderano dragged it back to 9-9 before each traded points: 10-10, 11-11 before the Brazilian showed why he is so highly ranked as he took the third game 13-11 to take the opening match.

Second to the table for England was Connor Green to face Guilherme Teodoro.

Both players set off quickly and with an attacking mindset in the opening game. Some fantastic rallies ensued in a game that commanded the attention of the arena crowd as the pair traded points and the lead. Teodoro earned the first two game points at 10-8, however Green was able to turn the tables to pick up one of his own at 10-11. Unable to convert it the game continued: 11-11, 12-11, 12-12, 12-13, 13-13, 14-13, 14-14, 15-14, before a net cord did for Green as Teodoro took the opener 16-14.

A slightly cagey but not less entertaining second game got underway, but it wasn’t long before the duo at the table started the fireworks once again. A stunning rally at 3-3 saw Green get the better of his opponent to take it to 4-3. Teodoro was quickly back at it to open up a commanding lead and once again earn the first two game point, both of which were ably defended by Green to bring it to 10-10. The next game point for Teodoro saw Green once again try to prove that attack is the best form of defence, but in sending one long he conceded the game to find himself 2-0 down.

The home crowd and home bench were truly getting behind their man, however it was the Brazilians in the arena who were cheering come the end of the third game. Having defended multiple game points throughout the match so far, Green was unable to defend the match point as Teodoro took the third game 11-6 to win the match 3-0.

The third match of the night saw Sam Walker face-off against Leonardo Iizuka.

The opening game was another close affair but without the flair points that became common-place in the Green v Teodoro match. Iizuka took it 11-9 as the pair were very evenly matched throughout, with the Brazilian just able to make his move at the decisive time.

The second game saw Walker open up multi-point leads on multiple occasions, only for his opponent to reel him back in. Leading 8-5, then 9-6, Walker made it 10-6 before converting England’s first game point of the night to level at 1-1.

With the other Round of 16 matches complete, all eyes in the arena turned to Table 2 and Walker continued where he left off in the second game to open up a commanding lead. 9-3 ahead, he was pegged back to 9-6 before taking the game 11-6 and establishing a 2-1 lead.

Following a pep-talk from his bench, Iizuka raced into an early lead as he quickly had the Englishman on the back foot. Walker showed his trademark grit and determination to drag himself back into the game and cause Iizuka to use his time out when the Brazilian led 9-8.

The time out couldn’t turn the tide as Walker continued his run of points to take the game 11-9 and the match 3-1 to get England on the board at 2-1 down overall.

Back to the table came Tom Jarvis, this time to face Guilherme Teodoro.

The Englishman swept his opponent aside in the opening game 11-5. Jarvis’ power, precision and general play proving too much for the Brazilian in what was a very quick opening game.

In the second game, Teodoro showed the class that had earlier seen him victorious over Connor Green. The Brazilian going for his shots and finding them as he flew through to take the game 6-11.

Jarvis got off to a quick start in the third game to open up an early 4-1 lead. Teodoro pulled himself closer, however Jarvis was able to give himself the advantage again at 8-4. 8-5, 9-5, 10-5, 10-6, and game to Jarvis (11-6) to give England the 2-1 lead.

The closest of the games so far, the fourth saw a lot of back-and-forth as one point at a time the players met each other stride-for-stride. A stunning rally at 7-7 brought the crowd into streams of applause, yet the Brazilian bench were to their feet next as the tight match went to 8-8. 9-8, then 10-8 to Jarvis brought about a match point which Teodoro defended with all his might to make it 10-9 then 10-10.

11-10 and match point number three was converted by Jarvis to see England bring it back to 2-2 and head into a decider.

That deciding match would seen Connor Green come up against Hugo Calderano.

The opening game certainly didn’t disappoint as Green more than matched the world number 5 shot for shot. Giving the home fans much to cheer, Green showed the same grit, quality and fire-power that he had in his first match, however the experience and class of Calderano saw the Brazilian edge the first game 11-8.

The second game proved to be much the same. Green pushing Calderano to some of his best play as the Englishman more than matched the Brazilian. Despite his best efforts however, Calderano proved why he is his nation’s talisman, taking the game 11-8 to put himself and his team one game away from a quarter-final.

The final game was a more comfortable one for the Brazilian as he ran out victorious 11-4 to complete a 3-0 win and take his team through to the quarter-final and eliminate hosts England from the championships, the England women’s team exiting in the Round of 32.

With the match complete, Brazil can now look forward to a quarter-final against France.

Photos: Sam Mellish