Babar Azam's Pakistan Avoid T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifiers Despite Early Exit In The USA

Babar Azam's Pakistan Avoid T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifiers Despite Early Exit In The USA

Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi after PAK's win over IRE (X.com)

Despite getting eliminated from the group stage of the T20 World Cup 2024, Babar Azam's Pakistan won’t be required to play in the qualifiers when the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup will be played in Sri Lanka and India.

The ICC confirmed the news on Tuesday while explaining the format and the participants of the T20 World Cup 2026.

T20 World Cup 2026 Format: All You Need To Know

There will be a 20-team event in the next T20 World Cup, as it was this time around, with Rohit Sharma’s India having the last laugh by lifting the title. The tournament will be a 55-match competition, and 20 teams will be pooled into four groups, just as it was in the USA and the West Indies, and will fight for places in the Super 8 round.

After that, the semi-finals and finals will follow. Needless to say, there is no change at all if you look at the just-concluded T20 World Cup edition.

Apart from the hosts India and Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, and the West Indies have already secured their places in the T20 World Cup 2026, along with Pakistan. New Zealand, the USA, and Ireland have made the cut without playing the qualifiers.

The other eight countries will be decided by regional qualifiers, as ICC explained the format.

T20 World Cup 2026: Qualifiers Division

Two teams will qualify from the African region, where Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Namibia among others like Nigeria, Tanzania, and Kenya will fight for places.

One place will be up for grabs from America region where the likes of Canada and Bermuda will be in action, while from Asia, East Asia-Pacific, and Europe, as many as five places could be filled in the main round.