One of the highlights of the first day of competition in Peniche was the eighth-final match starring the world champions Gabriel Medina (2014, 2018 and 2021) and Filipe Toledo (2022 and 2023). Before facing Medina, Filipe won his debut against the Australian Liam O'Brien with a total of 14.43 against 12.93 of the opponent.
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Following that, the Potiguar Ítalo Ferreira defeated Australian Jack Robinson. The 2019 world champion and 2021 Olympic champion, Ítalo, managed to surf two barrels, totaling 15.00 against Robinson's 10.43, securing his place in the quarterfinals.
The last Brazilian to advance was the season leader, the Catarinense Yago Dora, who had a fierce battle against Connor O'Leary, representing Japan. The opponent was leading the round with scores of 5.17 and 6.50, while the Brazilian only had scores of 4.00 and 0.83. In the middle of the round, the Brazilian caught some good waves: the first one was 7.83, and then he scored 5.83, with a total of 13.66, Dora turned the scoreboard and remains strong in the race for consecutive back-to-back championships.
Yago Dora's direct rival for the season title, Italian Leonardo Fioravanti, the second-ranked surfer, said goodbye to Peniche after being defeated in the eighth round by Australian Morgan Cibilic.
Closing the eighth round, the Paulista Miguel Pupo lost in a turnaround to the Hawaiian Seth Moniz in the second final of the round. Pupo dominated the competition with scores of 6.33 and 6.27. The opponent only had 6.87, but managed to score 5.93 by surfing a short barrel near the end, sealing the classification.
Two other Brazilians bid farewell to the Peniche stage. Surfer from Saquarema (RJ), João Chianca (total of only 5.10), was defeated in his debut in the first round against Australian Jack Robison (13.33), who was later eliminated by Italo Ferreira. The younger brother of Miguel Pupo also stopped in the first round: he scored 8.27 against 13.00 by the Portuguese Frederico Morais.