Persistent drizzle at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida helped the USA make it to the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup and brought an end to Pakistan's campaign.
The rain in Florida brought more good news for the USA senior men's cricket team and their fans as it also helped them qualify for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 which is slated to be played in India and Sri Lanka.
Notably, the 2026 edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup will also feature 20 teams, with 12 direct entries and the rest eight spots would constitute the teams that would do well in their respective regional qualifiers. Since India and Sri Lanka are the co-hosts of the next edition, they have automatically qualified for the tournament.
Apart from India and Sri Lanka, the teams qualifying for the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup will earn direct qualification for the 2026 edition. The remaining three spots out of the 12 direct entries would go to the three highest-ranked teams on the ICC T20I team rankings as of June 30, 2024.
Will England, New Zealand and Pakistan qualify for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026?
Though the defending champions England are yet to seal a berth in the Super Eight of the ongoing edition, they can still qualify for the next edition even if they fail as they are ranked fourth on the ICC T20I team rankings.
The same goes for both Pakistan and New Zealand. Both teams have been knocked out of the ongoing edition but are still firm favourites to directly qualify for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.
The Blackcaps are ranked sixth whereas Pakistan are seventh on the T20I rankings. Though there are bound to be a few changes in the rankings before June 30, it still won't jeopardise their chances.
