Explained: How groups were decided for ICC T20 World Cup 2026?

ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed the seeding process for ICC T20 World Cup 2026, and in a move driven solely by logistical considerations, India and Pakistan will keep their pre-assigned berths regardless of where they finish in their group.

India will remain as A1 and Pakistan as A2, in a mechanism replicated throughout the tournament to ensure that each team has a fixed seeding into the later stages.

Australia, England, and New Zealand will be automatically assigned to B1, C1, and D1, respectively, while Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and Pakistan will be assigned to B2, C2, and A2. The United States will be ranked as A3, followed by Ireland, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan at B3, C3, and D3, respectively.

These seedings will remain stable throughout the ICCT20 World Cup 2026, which runs from February 7 until March 8.

The United States, Namibia, and the Netherlands will join India and Pakistan in Group A. Group B has Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, and Oman, while Group C includes England, the West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Italy. New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada round out Group D, which is the most geographically varied T20 World Cup field yet.

ICC T20 World Cup 2026 groupings and pre-determined seedings

Each of the 20 qualified for the tournament after a rigorous qualification process that included historical performance, worldwide rankings, and regional tournaments. India, South Africa, England, and Afghanistan qualified as semifinalists in 2024, with Australia, Bangladesh, the West Indies, and the United States rounding out the top eight automatic entries. The following four were chosen by their rankings as of July 25, 2025: New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Ireland.

The remaining eight qualified through continental events: Zimbabwe and Namibia represented Africa, Canada topped the Americas, Nepal, Oman, and the UAE emerged from Asia-EAP, and the Netherlands and Italy qualified as Europe’s top two teams.

For the Super Eight stage, the ICC has pre-set India as X1, England as Y1, Australia as X2, New Zealand as Y2, West Indies as X3, Pakistan as Y3, South Africa as X4, and Sri Lanka as Y4. If any of these teams fail to advance, their qualifiers will simply inherit their seedings.

The Groupings of ICC T20 World Cup 2026

Group A: India, Pak, USA, Namibia and Netherlands

Group B: Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Oman

Group C: England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal and Italy

Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, UAE and Canada

Seedings of all 20 teams of ICC T20 World Cup 2026

A1: India, A2: Pakistan, A3: USA, A4: the Netherlands, A5: Namibia

B1: Australia, B 2: Sri Lanka, B 3: Ireland, B4: Zimbabwe, B5: Oman

C1: England, C2: West Indies, C3: Bangladesh, C4: Nepal C5: Italy

D1: New Zealand, D2: South Africa, D3: Afghanistan, D4: Canada and D5: UAE

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.