2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup

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2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
2026 ICC टी20 विश्व कप
2026 ICC T20 ලෝක කුසලානය
DatesFebruary – March 2026
Administrator(s) International Cricket Council
Cricket format Twenty20 International
Tournament format(s) Group stage and knockout
Host(s)Flag of India.svg  India
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka
Participants20
Matches55
Official website t20worldcup.com

The 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be the tenth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, a biennial Twenty20 International (T20I) tournament played by men's national teams and organized by International Cricket Council (ICC). It is scheduled to be hosted by Sri Lanka and India from February to March 2026. [1] [2]

Contents

The tournament will be contested by 20 teams like the previous edition. The two host nations and the top eight teams from the previous edition will automatically qualify for the tournament, along with the next two teams in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings. The remaining eight teams will be decided via a regional qualification process. Pakistan are the defending champions. [3]

Format

The 20 qualifying teams will be divided into four groups of five; the top two teams in each group will advance to the Super 8 round. In this stage, the qualifying teams will be split into two groups of four; the top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage, which will consist of two semi-finals and a final.

Host selection

In November 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that Sri Lanka and Pakistan will co-host the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. This will be the first time for Sri Lanka and Pakistan that they will host a T20 World Cup together. [4] Sri Lanka first hosted the T20 World Cup in 2012 and India hosted in 2016. [5] Sri Lanka proposed to host this tournament alone. But due to lack of stadiums in Sri Lanka, International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to co-host with Pakistan.

Teams

Qualification

Sri Lanka and India will directly qualify for the tournament as co-hosts. They will be joined by the top eight teams from the previous edition who get qualified automatically, and since India finished in the top eight in the previous edition, the best three teams (other than the ones already qualified) from the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings will also qualify for the tournament. [6] The remaining eight teams will be decided by regional qualifiers, consisting of two teams from Africa, Asia, and Europe [7] [8] [9] along with one team each from the Americas and the East Asia-Pacific regions. [10] [11]

Method of qualificationDate of qualificationVenuesNumber of teamsTeam
Hosts16 November 20212Flag of India.svg  India
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
(Top 7 teams from the previous edition other than the 2026 hosts)
17 June 2024Flag of the United States.svg  United States
WestIndiesCricketFlagPre1999.svg  West Indies
7Flag of Afghanistan (2013-2021).svg  Afghanistan
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh
Flag of England.svg  England
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
WestIndiesCricketFlagPre1999.svg  West Indies
ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings 30 June 20243Cricket Ireland flag.svg  Ireland
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Europe Qualifier 2Flag.svgTBD
Flag.svgTBD
East Asia-Pacific Qualifier 1Flag.svgTBD
Asia Qualifier 2Flag.svgTBD
Flag.svgTBD
Africa Qualifier 2Flag.svgTBD
Flag.svgTBD
Americas Qualifier 1Flag.svgTBD
Total20

Notes

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