The 2026 World Surf League is the 49th season of all iterations of the tour circuit for professional surfers. The first event of the tour was the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, the longest running professional surfing competition in the world.
After five seasons, for the first time since 2019, the competition format has changed. Starting in the 2026 season, the WSL Finals will no longer be held to decide the champion. The competition format will return to a points system, with the last event of the season returning to the iconic waves of Pipeline.
Yago Dora and Molly Picklum are the defending champions from the 2025 season. 36 men and 24 women are set to compete in the 2026 Championship Tour.
In November 2025, the WSL announced that the 2026 Tour will see the return of four former world champions: Stephanie Gilmore and Carissa Moore in the women's tour, and Gabriel Medina and John John Florence in the men's tour. All four were awarded WSL CT Season Wildcards for 2026. In January 2026, John John Florence announced that he had ultimately decided to defer his CT return until 2027. The wildcard spot previously given to John John Florence was subsequently awarded to Ramzi Boukhiam, who missed the last three 2025 CT events prior to the Cut in 2025 due to a serious injury sustained during competition at Bells Beach.
The 2026 Championship Tour will span nine months and visit nine countries, with 13 events scheduled. The lineup includes a range of wave types-from barreling reef breaks like Pipeline, Cloudbreak, and Teahupo'o to performance-oriented locations such as Lower Trestles, Punta Roca, and Abu Dhabi. The schedule also features well-known stops like Snapper Rocks, Margaret River, Portugal, Saquarema, and opens at Bells Beach.
The 2026 CT will follow a new format that differs from those of previous years. Under the new system, 36 men and 24 women will compete in nine "regular-season" events, at which point the competition will be narrowed to 24 men (top 22 competitors + 2 wildcards) and 16 women (top 14 competitors + 2 wildcards) for the final three "postseason" events, during which competitors will be given the opportunity to accumulate more points. Surfers will carry only their best seven of nine results from the regular season into the next stage. For the first time in 5 years, there will be no mid-season cut.
The nine "regular-season" events and three "postseason" events will be followed by a reimagined Pipe Masters on the North Shore of O'ahu, Hawai'i as the thirteenth and final event of the tour, which will now award 15,000 points, 1.5 times more than a standard CT event. The full 2026 men's and women's CT fields from the start of the season will rejoin the postseason competitors to compete in this final event.
In July 2026, the WSL announced that they had added an additional location to the CT schedule for 2026 to ensure a minimum of 12 events can be delivered during the season, should the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro be unable to run as scheduled as a result of the 2026 Iran war. The event will be a third "postseason" event in addition to the two previously announced events in the UAE and Portugal.
In September, it was announced that the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro would no longer go ahead as a result of the war. “We explored every option to keep the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro on the calendar this year,” explained Ryan Crosby, WSL CEO. “Unfortunately, the current conditions and logistical limitations made it impossible for us to move forward. It was a difficult decision, but the right one at this time. We value our partnership with Surf Abu Dhabi, and look forward to returning.” As a result, the CT schedule returned to a 12 event season.
The final season rankings, and ultimately the World Titles, will be determined by a surfer's best nine of 12 results.
In another major change from previous years, elimination rounds have also been removed, meaning that if an athlete loses their first round heat at a given event, they will be eliminated from that event. According to WSL CEO Ryan Crosby, this change is intended to create "higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season." Under the new system, there will instead be a qualifying round, where the lower-seeded surfers will compete to face the higher-seeded athletes in the main event. For the men, seeds 29-36 will take part in the qualifying event, while the top 28 seeded athletes will move straight to the second round. For women, seeds 9-24 will take part in the qualifying rounds.
On 25 May 2026, the final day of the championship in New Zealand was halted after one of the photographers, Ed Sloane, was attacked by an unknown sea creature. Renato Hickel, the vice president of tours and competition said: "At this stage we are not certain if it was a shark or a sea lion."
Qualified athletes
The first nine events of the 2026 Championship Tour will be contested by the WSL top 36 men and top 24 women. In November 2024, the WSL announced an expansion of the number of female participants in the 2026 World Championship Tour (CT), increasing the roster from 18 to 24 surfers.
The top 36 men consist of:
The top 22 finishers from the 2025 Championship Tour rankings The top 10 finishers on the 2025 Challenger Series rankings Two WSL season wildcards Two event wildcards
The top 24 women consist of:
The top 14 finishers on the 2025 Championship Tour rankings The top 7 finishers on the 2025 Challenger Series rankings Two WSL season wildcards One event wildcard
The first nine events will include 36 men and 24 women. After that, the field will be reduced to 24 men (top 22 competitors + 2 wildcards) and 16 women (top 14 competitors + 2 wildcards) for the final three postseason events in the Philippines, Abu Dhabi (prior to its cancellation) and Portugal. The top-ranked surfers will automatically requalify for the 2027 CT, as well as continue on to the second half of the Tour, where they will be joined by one men's and one women's season-long wildcard, and one men's and one women's event wildcard.*
2026 Championship Tour qualifiers
+2026 Championship Tour QualifiersWomenMenQualifiers from the 2025 Championship Tour Molly Picklum Yago Dora Caroline Marks Griffin Colapinto Gabriela Bryan Jordy Smith Caitlin Simmers Ítalo Ferreira Bettylou Sakura Johnson Jack Robinson Isabella Nichols Ethan Ewing Tyler Wright Kanoa Igarashi Erin Brooks Filipe Toledo Lakey Peterson Leonardo Fioravanti Luana Silva Cole Houshmand Sawyer Lindblad Barron Mamiya Vahine Fierro Connor O'Leary Bella Kenworthy Miguel Pupo Brisa Hennessy Jake Marshall Crosby Colapinto Marco Mignot João Chianca Joel Vaughan Alan Cleland Jr. Rio Waida Seth Moniz Alejo MunizQualifiers from the 2025 Challenger Series Tya Zebrowski Kauli Vaast Yolanda Hopkins Eli Hanneman Sally Fitzgibbons Morgan Cibilic Alyssa Spencer George Pittar Francisca Veselko Samuel Pupo Nadia Erostarbe Callum Robson Anat Lelior Luke Thompson Oscar Berry Mateus Herdy Liam O'BrienSeason Wildcards Carissa Moore Gabriel Medina Stephanie Gilmore Ramzi BoukhiamWSL Replacement Annette Gonzalez Etxabarri Matthew McGillivray
Schedule The 2026 Championship Tour brings some changes to the calendar. All stages from the 2025 season will continue in 2026, with only the order of events changing, with the exception of the event in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, which has been replaced by the Corona Cero New Zealand in Raglan. The Australian leg that closed the mid-season cut is now the first three events of the CT.
The first nine events define the "regular-season", while Abu Dhabi, Philippines Pro and Portugal are considered the "postseason". Unlike in recent years, the WSL Finals is no longer the last event of the year. The Pipeline Masters is once again the event where the 2026 world champions will be decided, with all competitors rejoining for the event.
+RoundDateEventLocation1April 1–11 Rip Curl Pro Bells BeachBells Beach, Victoria, Australia2April 16–26 Western Australia Margaret River ProMargaret River, Western Australia, Australia3May 2–12 Bonsoy Gold Coast ProGold Coast, Queensland, Australia4May 15–25 Corona Cero New Zealand ProRaglan, New Zealand5June 5–15 Surf City El Salvador ProPunta Roca, La Libertad, El Salvador6June 19–27 VIVO Rio ProSaquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil7August 8–18 Outerknown Tahiti ProTeahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia8August 25 – September 4 Fiji ProCloudbreak, Tavarua, Fiji9September 11–20 Lexus Trestles ProLower Trestles, San Clemente, California, United States10October 16–25 MEO Rip Curl Pro PortugalSupertubos, Peniche, Portugal11October 31 - November 10 Philippines ProCloud 9, Siargao Island, Philippines12November 25–29 Surf Abu DhabiHudayriat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates13December 8–20 Lexus Pipe MastersBanzai Pipeline, Oahu, Hawaii
Results and standings Event results +RoundEventMen's championMen's runner-upWomen's championWomen's runner-up1 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Miguel Pupo Yago Dora Gabriela Bryan Molly Picklum2 Western Australia Margaret River Pro George Pittar Gabriel Medina Lakey Peterson Luana Silva3 Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro Ethan Ewing Connor O'Leary Stephanie Gilmore Luana Silva4 Corona Cero New Zealand Pro Ítalo Ferreira Morgan Cibilic Carissa Moore Sawyer Lindblad5 Surf City El Salvador Pro Leonardo Fioravanti Ítalo Ferreira Carissa Moore Tyler Wright6 VIVO Rio Pro Yago Dora Leonardo Fioravanti Sawyer Lindblad Tya Zebrowski7 Outerknown Tahiti Pro Seth Moniz Griffin Colapinto Erin Brooks Anat Lelior8 Fiji Pro Cole Houshmand Gabriel Medina Erin Brooks Isabella Nichols9 Lexus Trestles Pro Miguel Pupo Kanoa Igarashi Erin Brooks Gabriela Bryan10 MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal11 Philippines Pro12 Lexus Pipe Masters
Men's standings Points are awarded using the following structure: Regular season 1st 2nd 3rd 5th 9th 17th 33rd Points 10,000 7,800 6,085 4,745 3,320 1,000 500 500 500 500 0 Postseason 1st 2nd 3rd 5th 9th 17th Points 10,000 7,800 6,085 4,745 2,500 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 0 Final 1st 2nd 3rd 5th 9th 17th 25th 33rd Points 15,000 11,700 9,125 7,115 4,980 3,240 1,500 750 750 750 750 0