Plenty of historic rivalries are being renewed and the big guns are plotting their routes to the top of the world as we move to the Round of 16 at OVO Arena Wembley.

Tense and dramatic matches are sure to be the order of the day at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 Presented by ACN today.

Here’s what’s happening today across four sessions:

Men’s Team: Sweden vs Croatia, Denmark vs Chinese Taipei, Germany vs Hong Kong China, Kazakhstan vs Japan, Korea Republic vs Austria, Romania vs China, England vs Brazil, Portugal vs France.

Women’s Team: China vs Sweden, Singapore vs Korea Republic, France vs Italy, Egypt vs Romania, Germany vs DPR Korea, Hong Kong vs Chinese Taipei, Ukraine vs USA, Luxembourg vs Japan.

England men will aim to reach their first quarter-final since they won that famous bronze medal in Kuala Lumpur in 2016.

Standing in their way are Brazil and their talisman, world No 5 Hugo Calderano. It will be tough, but England can take heart from beating the same opponents on their way to winning bronze on home soil at the 2018 ITTF Team World Cup at the Copper Box.

On the flip side, the only previous meeting between the nations at a World Championships finished 3-0 to Brazil in the play-off for 29th and 30th positions in 2009.

There is only one first encounter on the day, as Kazakhstan meet men’s fourth seeds Japan – it is also a meeting between the hosts of the next two World Championships – Astana in Kazakhstan next year and Fukuoka in Japan in 2028.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of match-ups with recent history at this event.

They include a quick rematch between China men and Romania, who met at the same stagein Busan two years ago – a 3-0 win for China.

In fact, both Romania teams have the same opponents as two years ago – their women will face Egypt, whom they defeated 3-0 in 2024.

There are also two repeats of quarter-finals from Busan – France versus Portugal in the men’s and Chinese Taipei versus Hong Kong China in the women’s. Those finished 3-1 to France and 3-0 to Hong Kong respectively last time out.

The other repeat match from 2014 sees Luxembourg women take on second seeds Japan. They met in the group stage in Busan, and Japan won 3-0. Luxembourg of course feature the legendary Ni Xia Lian, who won two golds representing China at the 1983 Worlds. She has represented Luxembourg since 1991 and yesterday won one of her two matches as they defeated Brazil 3-2.

Women’s top seeds China face Sweden, having last met them in 2018 in the group stage, recording a 3-0 victory.

The men’s top seeds are Sweden and they face Croatia. They have met once before, a 3-0 win for Sweden at the same stage in 2016.

Whoever makes it through to the quarter-finals – and the one-table set-up at OVO Arena Wembley – will know they are just one good performance from securing at least a bronze medal. It’s sure to be a thriller from here on in!