you need to know about 2026 T20 World Cup qualification
12 teams from the 2024 edition will earn direct qualification.
The 2024 T20 World Cup just started , but some sides are already turning their attention to qualification for the 2026 edition. And it's not just the 80-odd international teams that didn't make the cut for 2024 (for whom the beginning of next qualification cycle is also less than a month away) but also several sides that will be travelling to the West Indies and USA, for whom results both in the lead up to the 2024 World Cup and at the tournament itself will determine their potential paths to 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.
Here's how.
Qualifying for 2026? The 2024 World Cup just started, there's a lot of qualifying to be done for 2026, with the overwhelming majority of the ICC's 108 members taking part in qualifying for 2026. The qualifying cycle for 2026 actually gets underway during the 2024 edition - the first of the sub-regional qualifiers starting in Rome just a week after the World Cup itself kicks off in Dallas. Since the scrapping of the Global T20 Qualifier this process is done on an entirely regional basis, with each of the ICC's five development regions staging a series of sub-regional qualifying tournaments feeding into regional finals where the best finishing sides earn a place at the World Cup itself. Not every side has to go through this process however, and for the 2026 T20 World Cup twelve teams will earn or be granted direct qualification. Which twelve teams those will be depends on what happens at the 2024 edition, and a handful of series playing out over the next couple of weeks.
What does it take to get direct qualification?
The simplest way is to be the host. As Full Member hosts both India and Sri Lanka are already booked for 2026 regardless of how they go at the 2024 edition. The next route is almost as simple - get to the Super Eights. Any of the 20 teams at the 2024 World Cup can secure a spot at the 2026 tournament if they can finish in the top two of their group and progress to the next stage. After that it gets a bit complicated. Between two and four more direct qualification slots will go to the best-placed teams on the ICC Men's T20I Rankings Table that don't make the second stage, depending on whether India and Sri Lanka get out of their respective groups. Though given that India and Sri Lanka are currently ranked 1st and 8th they will, in the event, both almost certainly be amongst those best ranked teams anyway anyway when the cut-off for qualification happens on the final day of the 2024 tournament. So essentially direct qualification for 2026 goes to the 2024 Super 8 sides plus the best four other teams on the rankings table on the day of the 2024 T20 World Cup Final.
So the Top Twelve in the rankings go straight to 2026?
Most likely, yes. But not necessarily. If any of the teams ranked 13th or below make it through to the Super 8s they would claim the direct qualifying slot that would have otherwise gone to the 12th ranked team. For every team outside the top 12 that makes the Super 8s, one rung drops off the ladder. So if, say, both the USA and Uganda were to make it through the Group Stage, only the top ten on the table would be safe.
What happens to the teams that don't make it?
Regional Qualifying. The 2026 cycle once again sees an extensive ladder of sub-regional qualifier tournaments feeding into regional finals. Any team that qualified for the 2024 edition will be exempt for the former, instead going straight to regional finals, indeed the first of the 2026 cycle sub-regionals will get underway during the 2024 World Cup itself, Europe Sub-Regional A kicking off in Italy on June 6th. There's another eight 2026 qualifying spots on offer at the five regional finals. Last time round Africa and Europe both got two qualifying slots, as did Asia, with the Americas and East Asia Pacific each getting one apiece. That may change for the next cycle however, with the ICC clarifying that a decision on the regional distribution of qualifying slots will not be taken until after this World Cup.
So who's in the running?
All the teams currently ranked 10th and up are effectively safe, as no possible combination of results would see any of the current top ten drop into real danger. Barring a substantial number of underdog sides making the Super 8s,
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa, England and Australia are already guaranteed a place at the 2026 edition.
Conversely the teams now ranked 16th and below are too far adrift to plausibly claim a direct qualifying spot on rankings now. For those sides a run to the Super 8s is the only route to direct qualification. That leaves five teams -
Ireland, Scotland, Zimbabwe, Namibia and the Netherlands - all currently rated between 188 and 193 and jockeying for position on the table as the cut-off approaches.
Which matches matter?
In addition to the five contender's group phase matches at the 2024 World Cup itself, there's three pre-World Cup tours that could influence the standings. Zimbabwe's ongoing series against Bangladesh, where the Chevrons are 0-3 down with two games to go, could still see them improve their ranking dramatically if they turn things around. Ireland have a three-match home series starting today against Pakistan at Clontarf, where they could steal a march on the competition if they pick up a win or two. Potentially the most influential however will be the tri-series between the Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland at Voorburg later this month, which sees the three European rivals each play one another twice immediately before heading across the Atlantic for the World Cup.
How's the race shaping up?
Long story short, it's extremely close. Ireland are probably best placed, Namibia worst, but there's really littler separating the five as it stands.
Ireland: 11th - rating 192.34(7309 points from 38 weighted matches)
The Irish are currently in pole position, almost a full ratings point ahead of their nearest rivals Scotland. Their three-match home series that starts today against Pakistan could either see them pull further ahead if they pick up a win or two, or see them drop back to almost exactly level-pegging with the Scots if they lose all three. Thereafter they have two games each against the Scots and the Dutch before heading to the World Cup, where they face India, Canada, the USA and Pakistan in Group A. Losing to Pakistan or India will not do undue damage to their ranking, while beating the USA or Canada won't move the dial much either, though an upset defeat to either certainly could The biggest risk for the Irish is likely the European tri-series however, where a poor run could see them leak ranking points directly to their rivals.
Scotland: 12th - rating 191.50(3447 points from 18 weighted matches)
The Scots are second behind Ireland in the race, with four games at the European tri-series to come along with their World Cup Group B games against England, Namibia, Oman and Australia. Of all the five sides Scotland have the most control over their own fate, with two matches each against Ireland and the Netherlands as well as a fixture against Namibia at the World Cup itself, the Scots can do damage to their rivals as well as pushing up their own ranking in five of their remaining eight games. With so many matches still to come there's too many permutations to make precise predictions, but Scotland will likely need to win four of those eight matches to have a better than evens chance of direct qualification, while they'd still be in the hunt winning just three and should be pretty confident should they win five.
Zimbabwe: 13th - rating 191.00 (6876 points from 36 weighted matches)
Despite not qualifying for the 2024 edition, bested by Namibia and Uganda at the Africa Regional Qualifiers, Zimbabwe's comparatively impressive historical record in the format ensures they're still in the running to sneak direct 2026 qualification through the rankings (much as they secured a spot at the 2022 Global Qualifier). They nonetheless did some needless damage to their hopes by declining to send an official representative team to the recent African Games, which has hurt their chances in retrospect. The Emerging Zimbabwe side the contested the tournament racked up five wins at the tournament including two over rivals Namibia, but it later emerged that the matches would not be accorded T20I status and thus not count for the rankings, costing Zimbabwe well over 1,000 rating points and consequently two places on the current ranking table. Conversely their current five-match series against Bangladesh looks like a smart move from a rankings perspective, albeit one that hasn't paid off so far. A single win against Bangladesh would still get them up past 192 and in with a genuine chance, winning both their remaining matches would put them on 194.5 and in an excellent position. Even a 0-5 return from the series would not entirely end their hopes, but at 189.7 they would need a lot of other results to go their way to sneak through. Zimbabwe are also in a rather unique position in that they failed to qualify for 2024, which would normally put them at risk of dropping all the way back to Sub-Regional Qualifying for 2026. Cricbuzz nonetheless understands they'll likewise be granted a bye to the Africa Qualifier Final should they fail to secure direct qualification.
Namibia: 14th - rating 189.48(6253 points from 33 weighted matches)
Despite being within touching distance of 12th place, Namibia are arguably in the worst position of the five sides in question, largely as a consequence of some retrospectively unhelpful scheduling decisions (from a rankings perspective at least). The first was to send an understrength squad to the African Games which, unlike the Zimbabwe Emerging side, was nonetheless designated a full status representative side. Consequently Namibia's games at the tournament (excepting those against Zimbabwe) were full T20Is, including a shock loss to Nigeria. The second was a five-match warm-up series against Oman, a dangerous side whose low ranking meant Namibia stood to gain little but were risking a great deal. Despite winning the series 3-2 the result was a substantial blow to Namibia's ranking, and without any more matches before the World Cup the Eagles have little scope to improve their position. To get their rating up over about 191.2 they would need to win three group matches, which would likely be enough to make the Super 8s anyway. That might just be enough if their rivals all go very poorly indeed, but as it stands making the second stage of this coming World Cup looks their only plausible route to direct qualification for the next one.
The Netherlands: 15th - rating 188.86(2455 points from 13 weighted matches)
Despite their impressive big-tournament showing in the format in recent years the Dutch had been trailing behind the other four on the T20I table, but the May 1st rankings refresh saw them close the gap somewhat and the fact that they have the fewest weighted matches as denominator means their rating will move more with every game. With four home T20Is ahead of the World Cup they're thus better placed than either of the African teams, and face more or less the same equation as the Scots; win four of eight matches for a decent shot, five to be reasonably confident of direct qualification. They are however at a major disadvantage in the strength of their 2024 WC group. Despite qualifying directly for the 2024 edition by finishing in the top eight in 2022, the Dutch were seeded as a third-tier team owing to their historically poor ranking. Consequently they're the only one of the sides to face three full members in their group phase games, and will thus either need to turn over at least one full member at the World Cup again or make good use of home advantage against Ireland and Scotland at Voorburg in a week's time.
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India & Sri lanka Already qualified for WC in 2026 'cause they both will be Host for 2026 T20 World Cup.
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