The 20 teams that will compete in the 2026 T20 World Cup are:
United Arab Emirates become the 20th and final side to seal their spot for the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup after an eight-wicket win over japan in the Asia-EAP Qualifier in Al Amerat on Thursday.
Haider Ali’s 3 for 20 and a 70-run opening stand between Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem engineered UAE’s chase of 117, booking their berth alongside Nepal and Oman as the last three qualifiers for next year’s tournament in India and Sri Lanka.
Some teams got in automatically or because they did well: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the USA, the West Indies (based on results from 2024), and Ireland, New Zealand, and Pakistan (based on rankings).
Emerging / lesser-seen teams
– Italy qualifies for the first time in a T20 World Cup.
– Nepal, Oman, UAE show the growth of cricket in the “associate / emerging” bracket.
– Canada also gets a spot via Americas region.
Format and Stakes
With 20 teams, the likely format is groups of five, then Super 8s, and finally the semi-finals and final. This gives new teams a chance to surprise people and a way to get more attention.
Team Qualification path
1 India Co-host (automatic)
2 Sri Lanka Co-host (automatic)
3 Afghanistan Top 7 in T20 WC 2024
4 Australia Top 7 in T20 WC 2024
5 Bangladesh Top 7 in T20 WC 2024
6 England Top 7 in T20 WC 2024
7 South Africa Top 7 in T20 WC 2024
8 United States (USA) Top 7 in T20 WC 2024
9 West Indies Top 7 in T20 WC 2024
10 Ireland Qualified via ICC T20I rankings (not already qualified)
11 New Zealand Qualified via ICC T20I rankings
12 Pakistan Qualified via ICC T20I rankings
13 Canada Americas Qualifier route
14 Italy Europe Qualifier route (first ever T20WC for Italy)
15 Netherlands Europe Qualifier route
16 Namibia Africa Qualifier route
17 Zimbabwe Africa Qualifier route
18 Nepal Asia/East-Asia Pacific Qualifier route
19 Oman Asia/East-Asia Pacific Qualifier route
20 United Arab Emirates (UAE) Asia/East-Asia Pacific Qualifier route (final spot)
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