The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Marking the tenth edition of the tournament, it is scheduled to take place in February and March next year. A total of 20 teams will compete in this highly anticipated event.
The tournament will feature 55 matches and follow a format similar to the previous edition. The teams will be divided into four groups of five, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super Eight stage. In the Super Eight, the eight teams will be split into two groups of four, and the top two teams from each group will move on to the semi-finals.
Regarding qualification, 12 teams earned direct entry into the tournament. According to ICC guidelines, automatic qualification was granted to the hosts, teams that reached the Super Eight stage in the previous edition, and additional teams based on the ICC T20I team rankings at a specified cut-off date.
Since India both hosted and qualified for the Super Eight in the 2024 edition, only seven teams secured their spots through Super Eight qualification this time. The remaining three spots were allocated via ICC T20I team rankings.
The remaining eight teams will battle for qualification through regional tournaments. From these qualifiers, two teams each will qualify from the Europe and Africa regions, three from Asia and East Pacific, and one from the Americas region.
With that, let’s take a closer look at the teams already confirmed for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
List of teams who have already qualified for ICC T20 World Cup 2026
| No. | Team | Qualification Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | Hosts and defending champions (won 2024 final against South Africa) |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | Co-hosts of the tournament |
| 3 | Afghanistan | Qualified by reaching Super Eight and semi-finals in 2024 |
| 4 | Australia | Qualified by reaching Super Eight round in 2024 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | Qualified by reaching Super Eight round in 2024 |
| 6 | England | Reached semi-finals in 2024 |
| 7 | South Africa | Runners-up in 2024 |
| 8 | USA | Qualified by reaching Super Eight round in 2024 |
| 9 | West Indies | Qualified by reaching Super Eight stage in 2024; hosts of previous edition |
| 10 | Pakistan | Qualified through ICC T20I team rankings (7th as of June 30, 2024) |
| 11 | New Zealand | Qualified through ICC T20I team rankings (6th as of June 30, 2024) |
| 12 | Ireland | Qualified through ICC T20I team rankings (11th as of June 30, 2024) |
| 13 | Canada | Qualified via Americas Regional Qualifier (defeated Bermuda in final, June 2025) |
| 14 | Netherlands | Qualified via Europe Qualifier (defeated Italy in final) |
| 15 | Italy | Qualified as runners-up of Europe Qualifier |
