- Date:
- February 7, 2026 - March 8, 2026
- Key People:
- Suryakumar Yadav
2026 T20 World Cup
Who is hosting the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup?
Which teams have qualified for the knockout phase of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup?
Which countries are playing in the T20 World Cup 2026 and how were they selected?
What is the format of the 2026 T20 World Cup?
Where will Pakistan play its matches during the 2026 T20 World Cup?
Why is Bangladesh not playing in the T20 World Cup?
Did Pakistan withdraw from the T20 World Cup?
How will Super Eight matches be played in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026?
Where will the knockout stage matches of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup be played?
What are the rules for the Super Over in T20?
Which teams have qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup Super Eight stage?
The 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is the 10th edition of a biennial men’s Twenty20 international cricket competition organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held from February 7 to March 8, 2026, with India and Sri Lanka as cohosts. India beat New Zealand in the final to win its second title in a row, having also won the 2024 edition. It also became the first team in the tournament’s history to win two consecutive championships. Indian cricket star Rohit Sharma was chosen as the 2026 tournament’s brand ambassador.
Participating teams and format
The tournament has four phases, comprising two round-robin stages (group and Super Eight) and two elimination rounds (semifinals and final).
- Group stage (40 matches): February 7–20
- Super Eight stage (12 matches): February 21–March 1
- Semifinals (2 matches): March 4–5
- Final (1 match): March 8
Group stage
For the first group stage, the 20 participating teams have been divided into four groups of five teams each, with the top eight teams in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings placed evenly across the four groups. During this first phase, each team will play against the other four in its group in a single round-robin format, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super Eight (second group) stage.
Group A: India, Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan, United States
Group C: England, Italy, Nepal, Scotland, West Indies
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, United Arab Emirates
The points tables after the first group stage can be found below.
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| position | team | matches played | matches won | matches lost | no results/ties | points | net run rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India (Qualified) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +2.500 |
| 2 | Pakistan (Qualified) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | +0.976 |
| 3 | United States (Eliminated) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | +0.788 |
| 4 | Netherlands (Eliminated) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1.217 |
| 5 | Namibia (Eliminated) | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -3.108 |
| position | team | matches played | matches won | matches lost | no results/ties | points | net run rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zimbabwe (Qualified) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | +1.506 |
| 2 | Sri Lanka (Qualified) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | +1.741 |
| 3 | Australia (Eliminated) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | +1.523 |
| 4 | Ireland (Eliminated) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | +0.150 |
| 5 | Oman (Eliminated) | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -4.845 |
| position | team | matches played | matches won | matches lost | no results | points | net run rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Indies (Qualified) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +1.874 |
| 2 | England (Qualified) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | +0.201 |
| 3 | Scotland (Eliminated) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | +0.184 |
| 4 | Italy (Eliminated) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1.020 |
| 5 | Nepal (Eliminated) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1.349 |
| position | team | matches played | matches won | matches lost | no results | points | net run rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa (Qualified) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +1.943 |
| 2 | New Zealand (Qualified) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | +1.227 |
| 3 | Afghanistan (Eliminated) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | +0.889 |
| 4 | United Arab Emirates (Eliminated) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1.364 |
| 5 | Canada (Eliminated) | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -2.426 |
Fixtures and results: Group stage
The tournament schedule can be found in the below table.
| date | fixture | group | city | result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 7 | Pakistan (148–7) vs. Netherlands (147) | Group A | Colombo | Pakistan won by 3 wickets |
| West Indies (182–5) vs. Scotland (147) | Group C | Kolkata | West Indies won by 35 runs | |
| India (161–9) vs. United States (132–8) | Group A | Mumbai | India won by 29 runs | |
| February 8 | New Zealand (183–5) vs. Afghanistan (182–6) | Group D | Chennai | New Zealand won by 5 wickets |
| England (184–7) vs. Nepal (180–6) | Group C | Mumbai | England won by 4 runs | |
| Sri Lanka (163–6) vs. Ireland (143) | Group B | Colombo | Sri Lanka won by 20 runs | |
| February 9 | Scotland (207–4) vs. Italy (134) | Group C | Kolkata | Scotland won by 73 runs |
| Zimbabwe (106–2) vs. Oman (103) | Group B | Colombo | Zimbabwe won by 8 wickets | |
| South Africa (213–4) vs. Canada (156–8) | Group D | Ahmedabad | South Africa won by 57 runs | |
| February 10 | Netherlands (159–3) vs. Namibia (156–8) | Group A | New Delhi | Netherlands won by 7 wickets |
| New Zealand (175–0) vs. United Arab Emirates (173–6) | Group D | Chennai | New Zealand won by 10 wickets | |
| Pakistan (190–9) vs. United States (158–8) | Group A | Colombo | Pakistan won by 32 runs | |
| February 11 | South Africa (187–6) vs. Afghanistan (187) | Group D | Ahmedabad | Match tied. South Africa won the Super Over |
| Australia (182–6) vs. Ireland (115) | Group B | Colombo | Australia won by 67 runs | |
| England (166) vs. West Indies (196–6) | Group C | Mumbai | West Indies won by 30 runs | |
| February 12 | Sri Lanka (225–5) vs. Oman (120–9) | Group B | Kandy | Sri Lanka won by 105 runs |
| Nepal (123) vs. Italy (124–0) | Group C | Mumbai | Italy won by 10 wickets | |
| India (209–9) vs. Namibia (116) | Group A | New Delhi | India won by 93 runs | |
| February 13 | Australia (146) vs. Zimbabwe (169–2) | Group B | Colombo | Zimbabwe won by 23 runs |
| Canada (150–7) vs. United Arab Emirates (151–5) | Group D | New Delhi | United Arab Emirates won by 5 wickets | |
| United States (196–6) vs. Netherlands (103) | Group A | Chennai | United States won by 93 runs | |
| February 14 | Ireland (235–5) vs. Oman (139) | Group B | Colombo | Ireland won by 96 runs |
| England (155–5) vs. Scotland (152) | Group C | Kolkata | England won by 5 wickets | |
| New Zealand (175–7) vs. South Africa (178–3) | Group D | Ahmedabad | South Africa won by 7 wickets | |
| February 15 | West Indies (134–1) vs. Nepal (133–8) | Group C | Mumbai | West Indies won by 9 wickets |
| United States (199–4) vs. Namibia (168–6) | Group A | Chennai | United States won by 31 runs | |
| India (175–7) vs. Pakistan (114) | Group A | Colombo | India won by 61 runs | |
| February 16 | Afghanistan (162–5) vs. United Arab Emirates (160–9) | Group D | New Delhi | Afghanistan won by 5 wickets |
| England (202–7) vs. Italy (178) | Group C | Kolkata | England won by 24 runs | |
| Australia (181) vs. Sri Lanka (184–2) | Group B | Kandy | Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets | |
| February 17 | New Zealand (176–2) vs. Canada (173–4) | Group D | Chennai | New Zealand won by 8 wickets |
| Ireland vs. Zimbabwe | Group B | Kandy | Match abandoned because of rain | |
| Scotland (170–7) vs. Nepal (171–3) | Group C | Mumbai | Nepal won by 7 wickets | |
| February 18 | South Africa (123–4) vs. United Arab Emirates (122–6) | Group D | New Delhi | South Africa won by 6 wickets |
| Pakistan (199–3) vs. Namibia (97) | Group A | Colombo | Pakistan won by 102 runs | |
| India (193–6) vs. Netherlands (176–7) | Group A | Ahmedabad | India won by 17 runs | |
| February 19 | West Indies (165–6) vs. Italy (123) | Group C | Kolkata | West Indies won by 42 runs |
| Sri Lanka (178–7) vs. Zimbabwe (182–4) | Group B | Colombo | Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets | |
| Afghanistan (200–4) vs. Canada (118–9) | Group D | Chennai | Afghanistan won by 82 runs | |
| February 20 | Australia (108–1) vs. Oman (104) | Group B | Kandy | Australia won by 9 wickets |
Super Eight and knockout stages
The eight advancing teams will be organized into two groups of four teams each for the Super Eight phase. The ICC designated in advance the top eight teams on the T20I ranking chart as seeded teams in the two second-stage groups. If a team outside the eight seeds qualifies for the Super Eight stage from the first group phase, it will take the spot of the seeded team that failed to advance from its group.
- Super Eight group 1 seeds: India, Australia, West Indies, South Africa
- Super Eight group 2 seeds: England, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
During the Super Eight stage, each team will play against the other three in its group in a single round-robin format. The top two teams from each Super Eight group will proceed to the knockout phase. England became the first team to qualify for the semifinals after defeating Sri Lanka on February 22 and Pakistan on February 24. On February 25 Sri Lanka was eliminated from the tournament after losing to New Zealand in its second Super Eight match.
The knockout phase consists of two semifinals and a final. The top team from each Super Eight group will play a semifinal round match against the second-place team from the other group. The winners of the two semifinals will advance to the final.
| date | fixture | group | city | result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 21 | New Zealand vs. Pakistan | Super Eight Group 2 | Colombo | Match abandoned because of rain |
| February 22 | England (146–9) vs. Sri Lanka (95) | Super Eight Group 2 | Kandy | England won by 51 runs |
| February 22 | India (111) vs. South Africa (187–7) | Super Eight Group 1 | Ahmedabad | South Africa won by 76 runs |
| February 23 | Zimbabwe (147) vs. West Indies (254–6) | Super Eight Group 1 | Mumbai | West Indies won by 107 runs |
| February 24 | England (166–8) vs. Pakistan(164–9) | Super Eight Group 2 | Kandy | England won by 2 wickets |
| February 25 | New Zealand (168–7) vs. Sri Lanka (107–8) | Super Eight Group 2 | Colombo | New Zealand won by 61 runs |
| February 26 | West Indies (176–8) vs. South Africa (177–1) | Super Eight Group 1 | Ahmedabad | South Africa won by 9 wickets |
| February 26 | India (256–4) vs. Zimbabwe (184–6) | Super Eight Group 1 | Chennai | India won by 72 runs |
| February 27 | England (161–6) vs. New Zealand (159–7) | Super Eight Group 2 | Colombo | England won by 4 wickets |
| February 28 | Pakistan (212–8) vs. Sri Lanka (207–6) | Super Eight Group 2 | Kandy | Pakistan won by 5 runs |
| March 1 | Zimbabwe (153–7) vs. South Africa (154–5) | Super Eight Group 1 | Delhi | South Africa won by 5 wickets |
| March 1 | India (199–5) vs. West Indies (195–4) | Super Eight Group 1 | Kolkata | India won by 5 wickets |
| team | matches | wins | losses | ties/no results | points | net run rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa (Qualified) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +2.259 |
| India (Qualified) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | +0.106 |
| West Indies (Eliminated) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +0.993 |
| Zimbabwe (Eliminated) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -3.415 |
| team | matches | wins | losses | ties/no results | points | net run rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England (Qualified) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +1.096 |
| New Zealand (Qualified) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | +1.390 |
| Pakistan (Eliminated) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -0.123 |
| Sri Lanka (Eliminated) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1.950 |
| date | fixture | teams | city | result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 4 | Semifinal 1 | South Africa (169–8) vs. New Zealand (173–1) | Kolkata | New Zealand won by 9 wickets |
| March 5 | Semifinal 2 | England (246–7) vs. India (253–7) | Mumbai | India won by 7 runs |
| March 8 | Final | India (255–5) vs. New Zealand (159) | Ahmedabad | India won by 96 runs |
Tournament highlights
The tournament has already delivered the excitement and drama that makes T20 cricket the most popular format of the game, from the nail-biting clash between South Africa and Afghanistan, which took two Super Overs to decide a winner, to Zimbabwe pulling off one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history with its win against Australia. India and West Indies qualified for the Super Eight stage of the competition after securing their third group-stage wins against Pakistan and Nepal, respectively, on February 15. South Africa and England advanced to the Super Eight stage a day later. In the tournament final against New Zealand on March 8, India smashed multiple tournament records on its way to becoming the first team to win a second consecutive ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title. It also became the first host country in the competition’s history to lift the trophy.(Read: 2026 T20 World Cup Highlights)
Men’s T20 World Cup trivia
- Finn Allen (100 runs off 33 balls) scored the fastest century in tournament history during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semifinal against South Africa.
- India and England faced off in the semifinal of a men’s T20 World Cup for the third consecutive time.
- England defeated Pakistan in the Super Eight stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup on February 24 and became the first team to qualify for the knockout stage. This was the fifth time in a row the England team had reached the semifinals in T20 World Cups. It won the 2022 edition of the tournament and was the runner-up in 2016, losing to West Indies in the final.
- India’s loss to South Africa in the Super Eight stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup on February 22 was its first since India lost to England in the semifinals of the 2022 edition. The Indian team’s latest loss ended a record 12-match win streak in T20 World Cups.
- On February 17, 2026, 19-year-old Canadian batter Yuvraj Samra scored a century during his team’s group-stage match against New Zealand, breaking several records in the process. He became the youngest player to score 100 or more runs in an innings in either the T20 World Cup or ODI World Cup, and was also the first player from an associate nation to score a century in the history of the T20 World Cup.
- The Pakistan team used six spin bowlers in its bowling attack during the Group A match against India on February 15, 2026. This was the first time a team had used six spin bowlers in a single innings in the history of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
- South Africa and Afghanistan played the first double Super Over in the history of the T20 World Cup on February 11, 2026.
- England defeated Scotland in a Group C match at the 2026 T20 World Cup on February 14. It was the first win for England in six matches against European opponents in various editions of the tournament.
- Pakistani opening batters Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman scored 176 runs in total in a Super Eight stage match against Sri Lanka at the 2026 T20 World Cup, breaking the record for the largest batting partnership (total runs scored by two specific batters playing together during a single turn at bat) in the tournament’s history. The previous record had been set during the group stage of the same edition by New Zealand opening batters Tim Seifert and Finn Allen, who scored a total of 175 runs between them in a match against the United Arab Emirates.
- The 2026 T20 World Cup is the first edition to feature five pairs of brothers among the participants. Benjamin and Harry Manenti, along with Anthony and Justin Mosca, are part of the Italian squad. Ireland also has two sibling pairs in its squad; Ross and Mark Adair, and Harry and Tim Tector. Brothers Aarif and Aasif Sheikh are in Nepal’s squad.
- A host team has never won the Men’s T20 World Cup in the tournament’s history.
- No men’s team has ever won back-to-back T20 World Cups.
- On April 3, 2016, West Indies won both the men’s and women’s T20 World Cups in matches played on the same ground.
- Pakistan has defeated India only once in the eight T20 World Cup matches the two teams have played.
- Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma and Bangladeshi player Shakib Al Hasan jointly hold the record for appearing in the most editions of the Men’s T20 World Cup (both players featured in the first nine competitions from 2007 to 2024).
- West Indian player Chris Gayle and Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan are the only batters to have scored multiple centuries in Men’s T20 World Cup history. Farhan is also the only player to have scored more than one century in the same edition of the tournament, achieving this feat during the 2026 T20 World Cup.
2026 T20 World Cup Squads
A full list of the squads for the tournament is available in the table below.
| team | squad |
|---|---|
| *Brought in to replace an injured player after the deadline for naming the squad had passed. | |
| **Replacement captain. | |
| Afghanistan | Rashid Khan (captain), Noor Ahmad, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Sediqullah Atal, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Ishaq Rahimi, Shahidullah Kamal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Darwish Rasooli, Ibrahim Zadran, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi. Reserves: AM Ghazanfar, Ijaz Ahmadzai, and Farid Ahmad Malik |
| Australia | Mitchell Marsh (captain), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Steve Smith*, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa |
| Canada | Dilpreet Bajwa (captain), Ajayveer Hundal, Ansh Patel, Dilon Heyliger, Harsh Thaker, Jaskarandeep Buttar, Kaleem Sana, Kanwarpal Tathgur, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Ravinderpal Singh, Saad Bin Zafar, Shivam Sharma, Shreyas Movva, Yuvraj Samra |
| England | Harry Brook (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Luke Wood |
| India | Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj*, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh |
| Ireland | Lorcan Tucker** (captain), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Ben Calitz, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Matthew Humphreys, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Tim Tector, Ben White, Craig Young, Sam Topping* |
| Italy | Wayne Madsen (captain), Marcus Campopiano, Gian Piero Meade, Zain Ali, Ali Hasan, Crishan Jorge Kalugamage, Harry Manenti, Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, Syed Naqvi, Benjamin Manenti, Jaspreet Singh, JJ Smuts, Grant Stewart, Thomas Draca |
| Namibia | Gerhard Erasmus (captain), Zane Green, Bernard Scholtz, Ruben Trumpelmann, J.J. Smit, Jan Frylinck, Louren Steenkamp, Malan Kruger, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Jack Brassell, Alex Volschenk*, J.C. Balt, Dylan Leicher, W.P. Myburgh, Max Heingo |
| Nepal | Rohit Paudel (captain), Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Sundeep Jora, Aarif Sheikh, Basir Ahamad, Sompal Kami, Karan K.C., Nandan Yadav, Gulshan Jha, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sher Malla, Lokesh Bam |
| Netherlands | Scott Edwards (captain), Colin Ackermann, Noah Croes, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Fred Klaassen, Kyle Klein, Michael Levitt, Zach Lion-Cachet, Max O'Dowd, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Saqib Zulfiqar |
| New Zealand | Mitchell Santner (captain), Finn Allen, Cole McConchie*, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi |
| Oman | Jatinder Singh (captain), Vinayak Shukla, Mohammad Nadeem, Shakeel Ahmad, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Karan Sonavale, Shah Faisal, Nadeem Khan, Sufyan Mehmood, Jay Odedra, Shafiq Jan, Ashish Odedara, Jiten Ramanandi, Aamir Kaleem |
| Pakistan | Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq |
| Scotland | Richie Berrington (captain), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross, Bradley Currie, Oliver Davidson, Chris Greaves, Zainullah Ihsan, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Jack Jarvis*, Mark Watt, Bradley Wheal. Traveling reserves: Jasper Davidson, Non-traveling reserves: Mackenzie Jones, Chris McBride, Charlie Tear |
| South Africa | Aiden Markram (captain), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs |
| Sri Lanka | Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Janith Perera, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dushan Hemantha*, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka*, Pramod Madushan* |
| United Arab Emirates | Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Mayank Kumar, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Haider Shah*, Rohid Khan, Sohaib Khan, Simranjeet Singh |
| United States | Monank Patel (captain), Ehsan Adil*, Andries Gous, Shehan Jayasuriya, Milind Kumar, Shayan Jahangir, Saiteja Mukkamala, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan, Mohammad Mohsin, Shubham Ranjane |
| West Indies | Shai Hope (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd |
| Zimbabwe | Sikandar Raza (captain), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Bradley Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Ben Curran* |
Venues
Matches are scheduled to be played at eight venues across the two host countries—five locations in India and three in Sri Lanka.
- Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
- MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
- Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
- Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground, Colombo
- Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
An agreement between India and Pakistan stated that, during multilateral tournaments hosted by either country between 2024 and 2027, the other country will play its matches at neutral venues. In keeping with this agreement, Pakistan will play its 2026 T20 World Cup matches at Sri Lankan venues. Should Pakistan qualify for the knockout phase, its semifinal and final matches will be played in Colombo rather than Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
All of the matches in Group B, cohost Sri Lanka’s group, are scheduled to be played at Sri Lankan venues.
2026 T20 World Cup controversies
- In January 2026, following diplomatic disputes between India and Bangladesh, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from his player contract for the upcoming IPL 2026. A few days later, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wrote to the ICC seeking permission to play its matches in Sri Lanka or a neutral venue, citing Mustafizur’s exclusion from the KKR squad as evidence of a security threat against the Bangladesh team. The ICC refused to relocate Bangladesh’s matches away from India, and the Bangladesh government refused to allow its cricket squad to travel to India for the tournament. This led to the ICC replacing Bangladesh with Scotland, the highest-ranked T20I team that had failed to qualify, at the 2026 T20 World Cup.
- Pakistan will play all its matches at venues in Sri Lanka in keeping with an ongoing agreement between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). On February 1, 2026, the Pakistan government announced its team would boycott the group stage match it was scheduled to play against India. On February 9, after a series of talks with the PCB on the issue, the ICC announced that the India-Pakistan match would be played as scheduled.
- Following claims of delays and denials in the visa application process, the ICC facilitated visa procurement for more than 40 Pakistani-born players and coaching staff from the Canada, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, England, Italy, United States, and Scotland teams.
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Qualification process
The 20 participating teams in the tournament were selected based on separate direct and indirect qualification criteria. Twelve teams were eligible for direct qualification. The first two spots went to India and Sri Lanka, the two tournament hosts. The seven teams (other than India) that had advanced to the Super Eight stage of the previous edition of the tournament in 2024, comprising Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the United States, and the West Indies, also earned direct qualification to the 2026 T20 World Cup. The remaining three direct qualification spots went to New Zealand, Pakistan, and Ireland, which, as of the deadline date of June 30, 2024, were ranked highest on the ICC Men’s T20I ranking list and were not eligible to qualify under the previous two criteria. In January 2026 Scotland, the highest-ranked team that had failed to qualify for the main competition, replaced Bangladesh after the latter refused to play its matches in India.
The eight remaining teams were chosen from among the ICC associate members (countries or geographical regions that do not qualify to play official Test matches) through four indirect qualification tournaments across the Africa, Americas, Asia and East Asia–Pacific, and Europe regions. The eight teams that advanced to the main tournament through the regional qualifiers were Namibia and Zimbabwe (Africa); Canada (Americas); Nepal, Oman, and United Arab Emirates (Asia and East Asia–Pacific); and Italy and Netherlands (Europe). Italy will make its tournament debut in the 2026 edition.
Men’s T20 World Cup winners
India won the first and most recent editions of the competition, held in 2007 and 2024, respectively. The 2018 edition of the tournament was canceled because of scheduling conflicts among multiple cricket-playing countries.
The full list of Men’s T20 World Cup winners can be found in the table.
| year | winner | winner's score | runner-up | runner-up's score | result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *The tournament was originally scheduled for 2020 but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. | |||||
| 2007 | India | 157–5 | Pakistan | 152 | India won by 5 runs |
| 2009 | Pakistan | 139–2 | Sri Lanka | 138–6 | Pakistan won by 8 wickets |
| 2010 | England | 148–3 | Australia | 147–6 | England won by 7 wickets |
| 2012 | West Indies | 137–6 | Sri Lanka | 101 | West Indies won by 36 runs |
| 2014 | Sri Lanka | 134–4 | India | 130–4 | Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets |
| 2016 | West Indies | 161–6 | England | 155–9 | West Indies won by 4 wickets |
| 2021* | Australia | 173–2 | New Zealand | 172–4 | Australia won by 8 wickets |
| 2022 | England | 138–5 | Pakistan | 137–8 | England won by 5 wickets |
| 2024 | India | 176–7 | South Africa | 169–8 | India won by 7 runs |
| 2026 | India | 255–5 | New Zealand | 159 | India won by 96 runs |