ICC T20 World Cup 2026 likely to be played from February 7 to March 8 - Reports

ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

In a massive development, it has been learnt that the 10th edition of the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be played in India and Sri Lanka next year, will begin on February 7, 2026. According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, the tournament will begin on February 7 and conclude on March 8. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has already informed the participating teams about the window of the tournament.

India and Sri Lanka will jointly host ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The reports also revealed that at least five venues in India and two in Sri Lanka will host the matches during the ICC tournament. Moreover, the final will be played in either Ahmedabad or Colombo.

Notably, Pakistan and India are not playing matches on each other’s soil due to the tense political relations between both nations. Hence, Pakistan are likely to play all of their games in Sri Lanka during the tournament.

20 teams to battle for the title in ICC T20 World Cup 2026

Meanwhile, 20 teams will clash in ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The format will be similar to the previous edition in 2024, and the 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five teams each.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Eight round, where they will be divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group of Super Eight round will book a berth in the semi-finals.

So far, 15 teams have confirmed their berth in ICC T20 World Cup 2026 – India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, USA, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, Netherlands and Italy.

For the remaining five slots, two will qualify from Africa regional qualifiers and three teams will be picked from the Asia and East Asia Pacific qualifiers.

Having won the last edition of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, India will look to defend and retain the title in their home soil. The last time India hosted the tournament was way back in 2016, which the West Indies won by crushing England in the final.

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