As of August 30, 10 contestants at Miss World 2026 in Vietnam have secured direct places in the top 40 through the Sports, Head-to-Head Challenge, Talent and Top Model events, including Vietnam’s Le Nguyen Bao Ngoc.

Under the format announced by Miss World organizers for this year’s competition, the 111 contestants are divided into four regions: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas and Caribbean. Each regional challenge selects its strongest representatives for direct places in the top 40, regardless of audience voting or scores in the final.

The Sports and Talent challenges each select one overall winner. The 10 contestants who have already secured their places in the top 40 are:

Suil Anyelina Pagán (Puerto Rico)

Suil Anyelina Pagán, 21, became the first contestant to secure a direct place in the top 40 after winning the Sports challenge on August 19, completing a 1.25-kilometer run ahead of 110 other contestants. She is the daughter of former Major League Baseball player Ángel Pagán and model Windy Pagán, who previously competed in Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico.

Pagán is pursuing a community project called Run for Puerto Rico - Beyond the Finish Line, aimed at expanding access to sports for children and young people in the territory. Her early victory made her the first contestant officially confirmed for the semifinals of the 73rd Miss World competition.

Romanda Hombir (South Africa)

Romanda Hombir, 27, stands 1.75 meters tall and works as a clinical audiologist in South Africa. She earned her top 40 place with a confident presentation and sharp arguments in the African regional Head-to-Head Challenge, where she discussed women’s health as one of the issues she is committed to addressing. Judges praised her composed responses to debate-style questions.

Hombir was one of four regional champions selected in the challenge, which took place in Nha Trang over the weekend before the Top Model event concluded. Her victory keeps South Africa among the contestants emerging early in the competition for the crown.

Julia Kühnle (Germany)

Julia Kühnle, 26, is of German and Japanese heritage and currently lives in Berlin. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics and is pursuing a master’s degree in Business Administration at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. She was previously first runner-up at Miss World Japan 2022.

Her performance was highly regarded for its clear analysis and critical thinking. Her victory put Germany among the notable early contenders at the 73rd Miss World competition.

Georgia-Lee Gill (Trinidad and Tobago)

Georgia-Lee Gill, 24, stands 1.75 meters tall and holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Biochemistry. During the Americas and Caribbean regional Head-to-Head Challenge, she spoke about overcoming periods of self-doubt and learning to set clear goals in life. Her academic background and logical arguments convinced the judges to award her a direct place in the top 40.

Gill is one of the few Caribbean representatives to advance this far through the competition’s early challenges. Her result secured Trinidad and Tobago a place in the top 40 during the opening phase of the semifinals.

Asia Rose Simpson (Philippines)

Asia Rose Simpson, 19, became the youngest Miss World Philippines in history when she won the national title earlier this year. An author and illustrator of children’s books, she is also the founder of SED, a sports and dance initiative that has supported the mental health of more than 7,000 students in the United States, Vietnam and the Philippines.

At the 73rd Miss World competition, Simpson won the Asia-Pacific Head-to-Head Challenge with a composed presentation on preserving cultural identity, earning a direct place in the top 40.

She also reached the top three in the Talent competition and twice finished ahead of Vietnam’s Le Nguyen Bao Ngoc in earlier challenges before Bao Ngoc went on to win Top Model. Simpson is regarded as one of the most notable young contenders in this year’s competition.

Grace Richardson (England)

Grace Richardson, 20, stands 1.8 meters tall, comes from Leicester and is studying performing arts. She began dancing at the age of three and previously worked part-time at a café and a wedding venue while pursuing her passion for the arts. Richardson is the first openly gay Miss England winner and faced discrimination while at school but continued pursuing a career on stage.

She won the Talent competition with a song from The Wizard of Oz, beating more than 100 performances to become the first European representative to reach the top 40 through the category.

Le Nguyen Bao Ngoc (Vietnam)

Bao Ngoc, 25, from Can Tho, was first runner-up at Miss World Vietnam 2022 and won Miss Intercontinental in the same year. She reached the top 20 in the Head-to-Head Challenge and the top 23 in the Talent competition.

Standing 1.85 meters tall and praised for her catwalk skills, Bao Ngoc surpassed the other Asia-Pacific representatives, including the Philippines, to secure a direct place in the top 40 on the stage of the 17th Vietnam Beauty Fashion Fest.

Joheirry Mola (Dominican Republic)

Joheirry Mola, 24, is from the capital Santo Domingo and graduated in Business Administration from Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE). She currently works as a professional model and teacher and is the founder of the community initiative Voices of Tomorrow, which helps children and young people gain access to opportunities for personal development.

Mola was crowned Miss World Dominican Republic 2025 and retained the title to represent the country at the 2026 competition in Vietnam. Winning Top Model secured her place in the top 40, strengthening the Dominican Republic’s position at the international beauty pageant.

Indira Ampiot (France)

Indira Ampiot, 21, was born in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, and is of French, Indian and Guadeloupean heritage. She won Miss France 2023 at the age of 18, becoming one of the youngest winners in the competition’s history, before being selected to succeed Agathe Cauet as Miss World France 2026.

Before entering beauty pageants, Ampiot graduated from high school with honors and planned to study communications, specializing in visual advertising and design. Winning the European Top Model competition gave France its first confirmed top 40 place of this year’s Miss World.

Tamunosoye Karibi-George (Nigeria)

Tamunosoye Karibi-George, 26, holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from Madonna University in Okija. She won Miss Africa International 2024 in Accra, Ghana, before being crowned Miss World Nigeria 2026 in Lagos.

Karibi-George works in communications and as a fashion model. She is also the founder of Beyond Labels, a project promoting inclusion and equal opportunities for children with disabilities or neurodevelopmental differences.

At the Top Model event, she surpassed representatives from Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya and South Africa to secure Africa’s direct place in the top 40. Karibi-George’s performance in a short yellow beaded dress, ending with a decisive turn on the runway, was highly rated.

With these results, 10 of the 40 semifinal places at Miss World 2026 have now been decided. The remaining 30 will be determined through further challenges, including Beauty With a Purpose and Multimedia, as well as audience voting and direct selections by the judging panel. The final is scheduled for September 5 in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa.

Huy Minh