DUBAI (Kashmir English): All 20 teams have been confirmed for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 to be played in India and Sri Lanka next year.
According to a report by cricket website ‘Cricket Info’, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday defeated Japan by 8 wickets in the Asia/East Asia Pacific Qualifier tournament to secure their place in the T20 World Cup 2026.
In the match, UAE bowler Haider Ali showed a brilliant performance and took 3 wickets for 20 runs, while a 70-run partnership between openers Alishan Sharif and Mohammad Wasim helped the UAE win the match against Japan.
The UAE achieved the target of 117 runs in the 13th over for the loss of 2 wickets.
With this victory, the UAE joined Nepal and Oman as the last 3 teams to secure their place in the World Cup scheduled for next year.
The 20 teams at next year’s men’s T20 World Cup:
🇮🇳 India
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
🇦🇫 Afghanistan
🇦🇺 Australia
🇧🇩 Bangladesh
🏴 England
🇿🇦 South Africa
🇺🇸 USA
🏝️ West Indies
☘️ Ireland
🇳🇿 New Zealand
🇵🇰 Pakistan
🇨🇦 Canada
🇮🇹 Italy
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇳🇦 Namibia
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
🇳🇵 Nepal
🇴🇲 Oman
🇦🇪… pic.twitter.com/Mmar8uXKKx— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 16, 2025
Apart from the hosts India and Sri Lanka, the top 7 teams of the T20 World Cup 2024, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, USA, and West Indies, have directly qualified for the next edition of the T20 World Cup.
In addition, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Ireland also got the opportunity to participate directly in the mega event based on the T20 International Ranking.
From the Americas region, Canada comfortably secured the only ‘American qualifier’ position, while from Europe, Italy will participate in the T20 World Cup for the first time.
The Netherlands qualified from the 5-team European tournament, Namibia and Zimbabwe ensured their entry into the mega event from the 8-team African qualifier, while Nepal, Oman, and the UAE completed the list of 20 teams for the World Cup by completing the last 3 places at the end of the 9-team Asia-Pacific Round Cup this week.
The T20 World Cup 2026 will be played under the format of the previous edition, in which a total of 20 teams will be divided into 4 groups, each group will contain 5 teams, and each team will play one match against each of the other 4 teams in its group.
After which, the top 2 teams from each group will reach the next stage, the “Super 8” stage, where they will be divided into 2 groups (consisting of 4 teams each) according to the pre-determined ranking.
A round-robin system will be adopted in this stage too; the 2 best teams from each group of Super 8 will make it to the semi-finals, and the winners of the semi-finals will face each other in the final.
