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2026 Men's T20 World Cup qualification

The 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup is the tenth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, a biennial world cup for cricket in Twenty20 International (T20I) format, organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is being co-hosted by Board of Control for Cricket in India and Sri Lanka Cricket from 7 February to 8 March 2026. Sri Lanka had previously hosted the competition in 2012 and India in 2016. The qualification process for the 2026 tournament included two stages: direct qualification and regional qualification. 12 teams were awarded direct qualification while 87 teams took part in the regional qualification to compete for the remaining 8 spots. The regional qualification included series of sub-regional qualifiers and regional finals held between June 2024 and October 2025.

The hosts, India and Sri Lanka, along with the top seven teams from the 2024 tournament: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the United States and the West Indies; directly qualified for the 2026 tournament. The remaining three direct qualification places were allocated to the next best-ranked teams in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings as on 30 June 2024, that had not finished in the top seven: Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan. The eight remaining places were filled through the ICC's regional qualifiers: Canada from Americas, Italy and Netherlands from Europe, Namibia and Zimbabwe from Africa, Nepal, Oman and the United Arab Emirates from the combined Asia-EAP final. Italy qualified for the men's T20 World Cup for the first time. Ahead of the 2026 tournament, Bangladesh withdrew from the tournament and were replaced by the next best ranked team in the T20I Rankings: Scotland.

Format

The top eight teams from the previous edition along with the 2026 hosts and the next best two to four teams (depending on the finishing positions of the hosts in the previous edition) from the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings qualified directly for the tournament. The remaining eight teams were decided by regional qualifiers. Each regional qualifier was held in two stages:

  • Sub-regional qualifiers: This stage comprised one or more tournaments depending on the ICC region. Matches were held in either single round-robin or double round-robin format and sometimes included group stage and knockout stage or playoffs formats as well. The stipulated number of teams advanced into the next stage.
  • Regional final: Top teams unable to earn direct qualification along with teams advancing from the sub-regional qualifier took part in this stage. Matches were held in either single round-robin or double round-robin format and sometimes included group stage and knockout stage or playoffs formats as well. The stipulated number of teams advanced to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Qualified teams

Africa qualifier

The qualification stages were as follows:

  • Qualifier A: Six teams played in round-robin format for 15 matches from 21 to 26 September 2024 in Tanzania.
  • Qualifier B: Six teams played in round-robin format for 15 matches from 19 to 24 October 2024 in Kenya.
  • Qualifier C: Six teams played in round-robin format for 15 matches from 23 to 28 November 2024 in Nigeria.
  • Regional final: Eight teams divided into two groups of four played in round-robin format followed by playoffs for a total of 20 matches from 26 September to 4 October 2025 in Zimbabwe.

Africa sub-regional qualifiers

The sub-regional qualifiers were hosted by Tanzania Cricket Association, Cricket Kenya and Nigeria Cricket Federation. The top two sides of each sub-regional qualifier (Malawi and Tanzania from qualifier A, Kenya and Zimbabwe from qualifier B and Botswana and Nigeria from qualifier C) advanced to the regional final.

Africa qualifier A

Africa qualifier B

Africa qualifier C

Africa regional final

Namibia and Uganda directly qualified for the regional final after receiving a bye due to their participation in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The regional final was hosted by Zimbabwe Cricket. The top two sides of the regional final, Namibia and Zimbabwe qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Group stage
Knockout stage

Americas qualifier

The qualification stages were as follows:

  • Sub-regional qualifier: Nine teams played in round-robin format for 36 matches from 6 to 16 December 2024 in Argentina.
  • Regional final: Four teams played in double round-robin format for 12 matches from 15 to 22 June 2025 in Canada.

Americas sub-regional qualifier

The sub-regional qualifier was hosted by Argentine Cricket Association. The top three sides of the sub-regional qualifier: Bahamas, Bermuda and Cayman Islands advanced to the regional final.

Americas regional final

Canada directly qualified for the regional final after receiving a bye due to their participation in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The regional final was hosted by Cricket Canada. The winners of the regional final, Canada qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Asia–East Asia-Pacific qualifier

The qualification stages were as follows:

  • Asia qualifier A: Seven teams played in round-robin format for 21 matches from 30 August to 9 September 2024 in Malaysia.
  • Asia qualifier B: Seven teams played in round-robin format for 21 matches from 19 to 28 November 2024 in Qatar.
  • EAP qualifier A: Four teams played in double round-robin format for 12 matches from 17 to 24 August 2024 in Samoa.
  • EAP qualifier B: Four teams played in double round-robin format for 12 matches from 28 September to 5 October 2024 in South Korea.
  • Combined regional final: Nine teams divided into three groups of three played in round-robin format followed by a six team round-robin for a total of 21 matches from 1 to 17 October 2025 in Oman.

Asia sub-regional qualifiers

The sub-regional qualifiers were hosted by Malaysian Cricket Association and Qatar Cricket Association. The top two sides of each sub-regional qualifier (Kuwait and Malaysia from qualifier A and Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from qualifier B) advanced to the combined regional final.

Asia qualifier A

Asia qualifier B

East Asia-Pacific sub-regional qualifiers

The sub-regional qualifiers were hosted by Samoa International Cricket Association and Korea Cricket Association. The winners of each sub-regional qualifier (Samoa from qualifier A and Japan from qualifier B) advanced to the combined regional final.

EAP qualifier A

EAP qualifier B

Asia–EAP combined regional final

Nepal, Oman and Papua New Guinea directly qualified for the regional final after receiving a bye due to their participation in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The combined regional final was hosted by Oman Cricket. The top three sides of the regional final: Nepal, Oman and the United Arab Emirates qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Group stage
Super 6 stage

Europe qualifier

The qualification stages were as follows:

  • Qualifier A: Ten teams divided into two groups of five played in round-robin format followed by playoffs for a total of 24 matches from 9 to 16 June 2024 in Italy.
  • Qualifier B: Ten teams divided into two groups of five played in round-robin format followed by playoffs for a total of 24 matches from 7 to 14 July 2024 in Germany.
  • Qualifier C: Ten teams divided into two groups of five played in round-robin format followed by playoffs for a total of 24 matches from 21 to 28 August 2024 in Guernsey.
  • Regional final: Five teams played in round-robin format for 10 matches from 5 to 11 July 2025 in Netherlands.

Europe sub-regional qualifiers

The sub-regional qualifiers were hosted by Italian Cricket Federation, German Cricket Federation and Guernsey Cricket Board. The winners of each sub-regional qualifier (Italy from qualifier A, Jersey from qualifier B and Guernsey from qualifier C) advanced to the regional final.

Europe qualifier A

Group stage
Qualifier A final

Europe qualifier B

Group stage
Qualifier B final

Europe qualifier C

Group stage
Qualifier C final

Europe regional final

Netherlands and Scotland directly qualified for the regional final after receiving a bye due to their participation in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The regional final was hosted by Royal Dutch Cricket Association The top two sides of the regional final, Italy and Netherlands qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Statistics

References