The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the last side to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. This means that the tournament will include 20 teams and will take place in India and Sri Lanka from February to March 2026.
The UAE secured their spot by beating Japan in the T20 World Cup East Asia Pacific Qualifier 2025. They joined Oman and Nepal, who were the 18th and 19th teams to qualify through the same regional route.
The complete list of 20 teams who made it to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026
India
Sri Lanka
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
England 🏴
South Africa
The United States
West Indies
Ireland
New Zealand
Pakistan
Canada
Italy
Netherlands
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Nepal
Oman 🇴🇲
UAE
How Each Team Made It
Hosts (Automatic Entry):
India and Sri Lanka automatically qualified because they were both hosting the tournament.
The 7 best teams from the 2024 T20 World Cup are:
Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the USA, and the West Indies all got in right away.
ICC Men’s T20 Rankings:
According to the ICC rankings, Ireland, New Zealand, and Pakistan all made it.
Qualifiers by region:
Namibia and Zimbabwe are the Africa Qualifiers.
Italy and the Netherlands are in the Europe Qualifier.
Canada is the Americas Qualifier.
East Asia Pacific Qualifier: Oman, Nepal, and the United Arab Emirates
The Format of the Tournament
There will be 20 teams in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, split into four groups of five teams each.
Group Stage: Each team will play four games in a round-robin style.
Super 8 Stage: The top two teams from each group move on to the Super 8, where they are put into two groups of four teams. Based on seeding, they’ll play another round of matches.
Knockout Stage: The two best teams from each Super 8 group go on to the semi-finals and eventually the final.
One of the semi-finals will be held at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, but the other location is still up in the air.
The Narendra Modi arena in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is set to host the final. It is the biggest cricket arena in the world.
About the 2026 Edition
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be held for the tenth time in 2026. This year’s competition will be one of the most diversified in its history, with new teams like Italy, Nepal, and the UAE joining. This shows how cricket is growing around the world and how fresh talent is coming up.