ICC Announced T20 Men’s World Cup 2026, Tournament Highlights and Overview
Are you anxiously waiting for the International Cricket Tournament? Your wait is over now! The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the T20 Men’s World Cup 2026. It is going to be held from 7 February to 8 March 2026 in two co-host countries, India and Sri Lanka. Looking at history, the first official ICC tournament was held in 2007 in South Africa. Firstly, it was held every two years in odd years like 2009 and 2011, etc. After 2010, it would be held in even years.
ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2026 Host and Venues:
ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2026 is hosted by two countries, India and Sri Lanka. All the matches of the Pakistan Cricket Team will be held in Sri Lanka because, after 2024, India will not come to Pakistan for the Cricket World Cup, so Pakistan will not go to India for any ICC tournament.
The venues of Sri Lanka for zmatches are as follows:
- Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground, Colombo
- Premadasa, Colombo
The venues of India for matches are as follows:
- Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- Wankhede, Mumbai
- Chennai
- Wankhede, Mumbai
- Ahmedabad
- Delhi
- Pallekele, Kandy
Opening Ceremony of ICC 2026 Tournaments
ICC did not hold an opening ceremony like other international tournaments. It just held an official schedule launch and ICC Men’s World Cup 2026 Trophy Tour before the beginning of the tournament. It is said that the Trophy will take a paramount flight over Adam’s Bridge to show a symbolic connection between co-hosts India and Sri Lanka. This attracts media and ICC global fans toward an official start of the cricket competition on 7 February 2026, with three-stage matches:
- Pakistan vs Netherlands – SSC, Colombo (morning)
- West Indies vs Bangladesh – Kolkata (afternoon)
- India vs USA – Mumbai (evening)
ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2026 Schedule
ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2026 has recently announced the full schedule of all Group Stage matches, and the winners will go to the Super 8s. The winners of Super 8s will qualify for Knockout matches, e.g Semi final and both winners will face each other in Fthe inal on 8th March 2026.
Here is the schedule of Group Stage Matches
|
Date |
Time (Local) |
Match |
Venue |
|
07 Feb 2026 |
11:00 |
Pakistan vs Netherlands |
SSC, Colombo |
|
07 Feb |
15:00 |
West Indies vs Bangladesh |
Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
|
07 Feb |
19:00 |
India vs USA |
Wankhede, Mumbai |
|
08 Feb |
11:00 |
New Zealand vs Afghanistan |
Chennai |
|
08 Feb |
15:00 |
England vs Nepal |
Mumbai |
|
08 Feb |
19:00 |
Sri Lanka vs Ireland |
Premadasa, Colombo |
|
09 Feb |
11:00 |
Bangladesh vs Italy |
Kolkata |
|
09 Feb |
15:00 |
Zimbabwe vs Oman |
SSC, Colombo |
|
09 Feb |
19:00 |
South Africa vs Canada |
Ahmedabad |
|
10 Feb |
11:00 |
Netherlands vs Namibia |
Delhi |
|
10 Feb |
15:00 |
New Zealand vs UAE |
Chennai |
|
10 Feb |
19:00 |
Pakistan vs USA |
SSC, Colombo |
|
11 Feb |
11:00 |
South Africa vs Afghanistan |
Ahmedabad |
|
11 Feb |
15:00 |
Australia vs Ireland |
Premadasa, Colombo |
|
11 Feb |
19:00 |
England vs West Indies |
Mumbai |
|
12 Feb |
11:00 |
Sri Lanka vs Oman |
Kandy |
|
12 Feb |
15:00 |
Nepal vs Italy |
Mumbai |
|
12 Feb |
19:00 |
India vs Namibia |
Delhi |
Schedule of Super 8s
| Date | Time (Local) | Match | Venue |
| 24 Feb | 19:00 | Pallekele, Kandy | |
| 25 Feb | 19:00 | Premadasa, Colombo | |
| 26 Feb | 15:00 | Ahmedabad | |
| 26 Feb | 19:00 | Chennai | |
| 27 Feb | 19:00 | Premadasa, Colombo | |
| 28 Feb | 19:00 | Pallekele, Kandy | |
| 01 Mar | 15:00 | Delhi | |
| 01 Mar | 19:00 | Kolkata |
Knock Out Matches
|
Date |
Match |
Venue |
|
04 Mar |
Semi-Final 1 |
Kolkata or Premadasa (Colombo) |
|
05 Mar |
Semi-Final 2 |
Wankhede, Mumbai |
|
08 Mar |
Final |
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad or Colombo |
Total Qualified teams in the T20 World Cup 2026
There are 20 participants of cricket teams that have qualified for the T20 Men’s World Cup 2026 tournaments. Almost all the first 10 automatic qualifier teams are the top 10 teams of the 2024 T20 tournaments, with 2 host countries, and 8 are the regional qualifiers from Asia, Europe. America and Africa.
Group-wise teams distribution
|
Group A |
Group B |
|
India (Co-host ), Pakistan, United States of America (USA), Netherlands, Namibia |
Australia, Lanka (Co-host), Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman |
|
Group C |
Group D |
|
England, West Indies, Bangladesh, NepalItaly |
South Africa, New Zealand, Zealand, Afghanistan, Canada, United Arab Emirates (UAE) |
Which platforms can you use to watch the T20 World Cup 2026 live?
All regional TV channels of participating teams have live access to all matches of the T20 World Cup 2026 tournament. Free-of-cost live streaming is available on the official ICC.tv worldwide. While all regional apps and websites show live streaming in their areas.
|
Disney+ Hotstar and Disney |
These are the most rated live streaming apps in India and many other continents. |
|
Myco Sports, Tamasha, Tapmad, ARY ZAP |
These are the streaming apps and websites in Pakistan. |
|
SuperSportApp |
It is a live streaming digital app used in Africa. |
|
Sky GO, Sky Sports App |
These are the online apps used in the USA and Canada for live match streaming. |
|
Willow TV App and Willow.tv |
These are the most used streaming services in Australia. |
|
Yupp TV, StarzPlay, and Switch TV |
These are the live streaming sources in Asia and the Middle East. |