The ICC T20 World Cup 2026, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is scheduled for the February-March window, and all participating teams have been locked in, with the UAE sealing the final 20th spot on the list.
India and Sri Lanka are the official co-hosts of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The schedule is yet to be released; however, it is known that Sri Lanka will host all of Pakistan and Sri Lanka’s games.
With the World Cup four months away, the 20 teams participating in the ICC tournament have been finalized and the groups are expected to be announced in the coming months. India will enter the World Cup at home as the defending champions and will have the advantage to retain their title.
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UAE clinches 20th spot for ICC T20 World Cup 2026
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have qualified for the group stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. They beat Japan on Thursday and reached the main stages, securing the last spot on the list.
Haider Ali 3/20 and a good start from their openers, Alishan Sharafu and skipper Muhammad Waseem, helped them overtake Japan in the Asia-EAP qualifying tournament at Al Amerat. They comfortably chased down the target of 117 runs.
The UAE have now joined Nepal and Oman among the final three teams to secure their place at the World Cup in the next edition. They were also part of the previous World Cup, which took place in the United States and the West Indies last year in 2024.
Apart from the host nations India and Sri Lanka, the top seven teams from the 2024 T20 World Cup: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, United States of America and West Indies have qualified for the 2026 World Cup. On the other hand, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ireland have qualified based on their current T20I rankings.
Canada qualified uncontested for the World Cup and Italy are set to play their first ICC T20 World Cup
In the US qualifiers, both teams, the West Indies and the United States of America, had already qualified for the World Cup without any rivalry, which allowed Canada to take the lead and only position in the US qualifiers as well.
Besides Canada, there is a bigger surprise for this edition of the T20 World Cup, and that is Italy, the European team that will make its debut in the main stages of an ICC tournament. The Netherlands were the other European team to qualify.
Namibia and Zimbabwe, on the other hand, clinched the top two spots in the African qualifiers, bringing together all 20 teams to participate in the next ICC men’s event.
Full list of qualified teams for T20 WC 2026: India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, USA, West Indies, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Oman and UAE.
ICC T20 World Cup 2026 to progress with Super-8 stage
Just like the ICC World Cup 2024, the 2026 tournament will follow the same format as the previous edition. The 20 participating teams will be divided into four groups and the best two teams will advance to the Super-8 phase.
The Super-8 stage also sees the presence of two different groups of 4 teams each, and the top two teams from these groups qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup. The winners of these semi-finals face each other in the final for the ICC T20 World Cup title.
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