ICC approved the qualification process for the Men's T20 Cricket World Cup 2026 on Friday. The world cricket governing body confirmed the 20-team tournament and qualification process in its latest executive board meeting in Dubai on March 15.
India and Sri Lanka co-host the 2026 T20 World Cup in February and March where 20 teams will compete in 55 matches, a similar format of the upcoming 2024 edition in US and Caribbean nations.
12 teams, including two hosts India and Sri Lanka, will qualify automatically while eight teams will play regional qualifiers to earn a place. Also, the top eight teams for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 will be part of the automatic qualification and the remaining spots will be filled by the next highest-ranked teams.
"The ICC Board also approved the qualification process for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026," the ICC media release said. "The event, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka, will see 12 automatic qualifiers. These will include the joint hosts along with the top eight teams from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 with the remaining spots (between 2-4 depending on host finishing positions) to be filled from the next highest-ranked teams on the ICC Men’s T20I rankings table as at 30 June 2024. The remaining eight teams will be identified through Regional Qualifiers."
ICC T20 World Cup 2026 qualification places:
- Hosts - 2 teams (India and Sri Lanka)
- Top 8 teams from T20 World Cup 2024 edition
- Two highest-ranked ICC T20 teams after above ten sides
- Europe Qualifiers - 2 teams
- Asia Qualifiers - 2 teams
- Africa Qualifiers - 2 teams
- East Asia-Pacific Qualifier - 1 team
- Americas Qualifier - 1 team
This is the only second time both India and Sri Laka will be hosting the T20 World Cup tournament. India first hosted the tournament in 2016 while Sri Lanka in 2012.
