List of teams who have already qualified for ICC T20 World Cup 2026

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

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will be the tenth edition of the tournament, scheduled to take place in February and March next year. India and Sri Lanka are the hosts of the ICC tournament. A total of 20 teams will participate in the ICC T20 WC 2026.

The tournament will witness 55 matches between the 20 teams. It will follow a similar format to the previous edition. Hence, there will be four groups, each comprising five teams. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Eight round, where teams will be divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

The qualification process for the ICC T20 WC 2026 saw 12 teams directly qualify for the tournament. According to the process laid out by the ICC, hosts of the tournament, teams who qualified for the Super Eight round in previous edition of the tournament and two more teams from ICC T20I team rankings as of a cut-off date qualify for the tournament.

However, with India finishing in Super Eight stage in the 2024 edition and also being hosts of the 2026 edition, only seven teams were required to qualify from Super Eight qualification. The remaining quota thus went to the ICC T20I team rankings qualification, through which, three teams qualified.

The rest eight teams will have to grab a spot in the ICC tournament through regional qualifier tournaments. Out of seven teams, two teams each will qualify from the Europe and Africa regions. Three teams will qualify from the Asia and East Pacific region and one team will qualify from the Americas region qualifiers.

On that note, let’s take a look at the teams who have already qualified for ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

List of teams who have already qualified for ICC T20 World Cup 2026

1. India

India have earned a direct qualification for the tournament as they are the hosts of the ICC T20 WC 2026. India are also the defending champions of the tournament, who won the trophy in the 2024 edition by defeating South Africa in the final.

2. Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka also earned direct qualification for being co-hosts of the tournament. Sri Lanka will aim for a better show in the next edition. In the previous edition, they failed to qualify for the Super Eight round.

3. Afghanistan

Afghanistan have bagged a direct qualification to the tournament as they qualified for the Super Eight round in the last edition. Afghanistan reached the semi-finals in the tournament; however, they lost to South Africa.

4. Australia

Australia are also among the teams to get a direct qualification to the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. They qualified for the Super Eight round in the last edition. However, after losing to India and Afghanistan, they failed to seal a spot in the semi-finals.

5. Bangladesh

Bangladesh are another side who have directly qualified for the tournament. They reached the Super Eight round in the last edition. They failed to make it to the semi-finals after losing all three of their games in the Super Eight round.

6. England

England were one of the brilliant performers in the previous edition. They made it to the semi-finals, where they ultimately lost to India by 68 runs. England are also among the 12 teams who have earned direct entry to the ICC T20 WC 2026.

7. South Africa

South Africa finished as runners-up of the last edition of the tournament. They lost to India in the thrilling final by seven runs. They also earned direct qualification for the 2026 edition as they were among the top eight teams in the last edition.

8. USA

The United States of America (USA) surprised the cricket fraternity with their stunning performance in the T20 WC 2024. They also made it to the Super Eight round; however, they could not win any of their three matches. USA have also have a direct entry to the next edition of the T20 World Cup.

9. West Indies

The West Indies were the hosts of the previous edition of the ICC T20 World Cup. Although they could not win the title, they made it to the Super Eight stage. Hence, they have also earned a direct qualification to the ICC T20 WC 2026.

10. Pakistan

Pakistan gave a dismal show in the previous edition, facing a first-round exit. However, they have made it to the next edition on the back of their ICC T20 rankings. On June 30, 2024, Pakistan held the seventh spot in ICC T20I men’s team rankings, which helped them qualify for the next edition of the tournament.

11. New Zealand

Like Pakistan, New Zealand also sealed their spot in the ICC tournament with their position in the ICC T20I rankings as of the cut-off date. They held the sixth spot in the ICC rankings for T20I teams on the deadline date. New Zealand failed to reach the Super Eight round in the previous edition.

12. Ireland

Ireland held the 11th spot in the ICC rankings on June 30 last year. Hence, they also managed to earn a direct qualification for the next edition. Ireland faced a first-round exit in the previous edition.

13. Canada

Canada became the 13th team to qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Canada booked their berth through the qualifiers tournament for America region. They defeated Bermuda by six wickets in the final of the tournament, which was conducted in June 2025.

14. Netherlands

Netherlands won the final of the Europe Qualifiers to book a spot for ICC T20 WC 2026. Netherlands crushed Italy in the final by nine wickets to win the tournament. Netherlands were also part of the last edition in 2024.

15. Italy

Italy finished as the runners-up in the European Qualifiers, losing the final to the Netherlands. However, they have also booked their berth in the ICC T20 WC 2026 as there were two spots from the Europe region. Hence, Italy have become the 15th team to seal their spot in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

16. Namibia

Namibia became 16th team to qualify for ICC T20 World Cup 2026 when they defeated Tanzania by 63 runs in first semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup Africa Regional qualifiers, which took place in October 2025. They became second team from Africa after South Africa to make it to the ICC event in India and Sri Lanka.

17. Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe joined South Africa and Namibia from the African region to qualify for ICC T20 World Cup 2026. After failing to qualify for the tournament in the last edition in 2024, Zimbabwe bounced back well and qualified for the tournament, which will take place in India and Sri Lanka in early 2026. They qualified for the ICC tournament after defeating Kenya in second semi-final of ICC T20 World Cup Africa Regional qualifiers in October 2025.

(List updated till 3rd October, 2025)

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