2026 Men's T20 World Cup
The 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be the tenth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Board of Control for Cricket in India and Sri Lanka Cricket from 7 February to 8 March 2026. Sri Lanka had previously hosted the competition in 2012 and India in 2016. A total of twenty teams will compete in 55 matches across five venues in India and three in Sri Lanka.
The number of participants remained as twenty teams, which included teams from the two hosts, the top seven teams from the 2024 edition, the three highest-ranked teams in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings not already qualified, and eight other teams determined through regional qualifiers. Italy qualified for the men's T20 World Cup for the first time.
India are the defending champions having won the previous edition.
Background
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is a biennial world cup for cricket in Twenty20 International format, organised by the International Cricket Council. It was first played in 2007 in South Africa, and the 2026 tournament marked its tenth edition. The ninth edition, held in 2024 in West Indies and United States, was contested by 20 teams, and was won by India who defeated South Africa in the final.Host selection
In November 2021, as part of the 2024–2031 ICC men's hosts cycle, the ICC announced that the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup would be played in India and Sri Lanka. Initially only Sri Lanka Cricket was proposed to host the entire tournament but due to expansion of the tournament and lack of stadiums in Sri Lanka it was decided to be co-hosted with Board of Control for Cricket in India. Sri Lanka had previously hosted the competition in 2012 and India in 2016.Following an agreement between the BCCI and Pakistan Cricket Board in December 2024, the ICC confirmed that matches involving India and Pakistan at ICC events hosted by India or Pakistan in the 2024–2027 ICC Events cycle would be played at a neutral venue. As a result, any matches involving Pakistan in the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup will be played only in Sri Lanka.
Format
The tournament's format will remain the same as the previous edition. The 20 qualifying teams were divided into four groups of five each. In the group stage, each team will play four matches against one another in a round-robin; the top two teams in each group will advance to the Super 8 stage, where they will be placed into two groups of four teams each, and will play three matches against one another. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage.Prior to the tournament, the ICC announced the eight seeded teams for the Super 8 stage based on their T20I rankings ahead of the tournament. After advancing from the group stage, the teams would be placed in predetermined positions in the Super 8 stage, irrespective of their position in the group stage. If an unseeded team qualified at the expense of a seeded team, it would take the position of the corresponding seeded team that failed to qualify from their group.
Schedule
February to March 2026 was allocated to the tournament on the 2023–2027 ICC Men's Future Tours Programme. The finalized schedule was announced on 25 November 2025, with the tournament scheduled to take place from 7 February to 8 March. The teams will play 55 matches with three venues in Sri Lanka hosting at least 20 matches and the rest of the matches hosted at five venues in India. On 26 January 2026, the ICC announced that 16 warm-up fixtures would be held from 2 to 6 February.Prize money
The prize money for the 2026 tournament is yet to be revealed.Marketing
In November 2025, former title-winning captain Rohit Sharma was named as an ambassador of the tournament. The official theme song for the tournament, "Feel The Thrill", produced and performed by Anirudh Ravichander with lyrics by Heisenberg and Raqueeb Alam, was released on 30 January 2026.Pakistan vs India group stage match
On 1 February 2026, the Government of Pakistan announced that the national team would boycott their scheduled Group A match against India on February 15. The decision was taken in protest against the ICC's refusal to relocate Bangladesh's matches out of India, a request that Pakistan had supported.Qualification
The hosts, Sri Lanka and India, along with the top seven teams from the 2024 tournament, automatically qualified for the 2026 tournament. The remaining three automatic qualification places were taken by the best-ranked teams in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings, based on the rankings on 30 June 2024. The eight remaining places were filled via the ICC's regional qualifiers, consisting of two teams each from Africa and Europe, three teams combine from Asia and East Asia-Pacific and one team from the Americas groups. In June 2025, Canada qualified from the Americas final, followed by Italy and Netherlands from the Europe final in July. In October 2025, Namibia and Zimbabwe qualified from the Africa final, followed by Nepal, Oman and United Arab Emirates from the combined Asia-EAP final. Italy qualified for the men's T20 World Cup for the first time.| Method of qualification | No. of teams | Teams | T20I ranking |
| Hosts | 2 | 1 | |
| Hosts | 2 | 8 | |
| 2024 Men's T20 World Cup | 6 | 10 | |
| 2024 Men's T20 World Cup | 6 | 2 | |
| 2024 Men's T20 World Cup | 6 | 9 | |
| 2024 Men's T20 World Cup | 6 | 3 | |
| 2024 Men's T20 World Cup | 6 | 5 | |
| 2024 Men's T20 World Cup | 6 | 18 | |
| 2024 Men's T20 World Cup | 6 | 6 | |
| ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings | 4 | 11 | |
| ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings | 4 | 4 | |
| ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings | 4 | 7 | |
| ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings | 4 | 14 | |
| Americas Qualifier | 1 | 19 | |
| Europe Qualifier | 2 | 28 | |
| Europe Qualifier | 2 | 13 | |
| Africa Qualifier | 2 | 15 | |
| Africa Qualifier | 2 | 12 | |
| Asia–EAP Qualifier | 3 | 17 | |
| Asia–EAP Qualifier | 3 | 20 | |
| Asia–EAP Qualifier | 3 | 16 | |
| Total | 20 |
Withdrawal of Bangladesh
On 3 January 2026, following the BCCI excluding Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman from the 2026 Indian Premier League, the Bangladesh Cricket Board requested for their matches at the T20 World Cup to be moved from India, citing a desire for "safety and well-being" of their players. On 6 January, ESPNcricinfo reported that the ICC rejected the BCB's request and Bangladesh will forfeit points if they refused to play. A day later, the BCB denied this, stating, "the ICC has conveyed its willingness to work closely with the BCB to address concerns".On 11 January, the PCB expressed its willingness to host Bangladeshi matches in Pakistan if Sri Lankan venues are unavailable for the tournament. The following day, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and Kerala Cricket Association stated Bangladeshi matches could be hosted at both the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium and Greenfield International Stadium instead of Eden Gardens and Wankhede Stadium in India. On 12 January, the ICC refused Bangladesh's security assessment, stating that "there was no overall threat to the " and that there was "low to moderate risks in some venues and low to nil in others". A day later, the BCB reiterated its request to move Bangladesh's matches outside of India citing security concerns.
On 17 January, the BCB requested to swap groups with Ireland, but this was rejected by the ICC, despite the PCB expressing its support for this. It was then reported that, if the BCB decided not to travel to India for the tournament, they would be replaced by the next-best ranked team in the T20I Rankings. Any final decision was to be made on 21 January. Following an ICC board meeting on 21 January, it was announced that the ICC's deadline to the BCB would be extended by one day. The next day, Bangladesh reiterated their refusal to play in India. On 24 January, the ICC officially replaced Bangladesh with Scotland.
Venues
On 6 November 2025, the ICC announced the finalised venues for the T20 World Cup, five in India: Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, Eden Gardens in Kolkata and Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai; and three in Sri Lanka: R. Premadasa Stadium and Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Colombo and Pallekele Cricket Stadium in Kandy.Squads
Each team is allotted a squad of 15 players and were required submit their provisional squad to the ICC by 8 January 2026. The teams are allowed to make changes to their squads until 31 January 2026.Match officials
On 30 January 2026, the ICC released the list of match referees and umpires for the tournament.; Match referees
; Umpires
Warm-up matches
A total of 16 warm-up matches will be played from 2 to 6 February, involving 18 teams along with India A team and Sri Lanka A team. The warm-up matches will be played at four venues in India: BCCI Centre of Excellence Grounds 1 & 2 in Bengaluru, DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai; and three in Sri Lanka: Colombo Cricket Club Ground, R. Premadasa Stadium and SSC Cricket Ground in Colombo. Sri Lanka and England will instead play a 3-match T20I series from 30 January to 3 February at Pallekele Cricket Stadium in Kandy as preparation for the World Cup.----
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