When, and where, is it?
The 10th edition of the men’s T20 World Cup begins this Saturday, February 7 when Pakistan take on Netherlands in Colombo, followed by West Indies facing Scotland in Kolkata and later co-hosts India kicking off their campaign against the United States in Mumbai.
India and Sri Lanka are co-hosting the tournament with Pakistan to play all their matches, including any finals, exclusively in the island nation under an agreement with ICC. That did include their Group A clash with India scheduled for February 15 until the Pakistan government announced last Sunday their team would boycott that match.
The group stage runs until February 20, followed by the Super Eight phase from February 21 to March 1, two semi-finals on March 4 and 5 respectively, before the winner is crowned on March 8 in either Ahmedabad or Colombo.
The 2026 men’s T20 World Cup will again be contested by 20 nations, split into four groups of five. Italy – featuring South Australia’s Manenti brothers, Ben and Harry – have qualified for the first time. Scotland replaced Bangladesh in Group C after the Asian nation boycotted the tournament when the ICC refused their request to relocate their matches out of India.
Australia, who are in Group B alongside Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Oman, will play their four group-stage matches in Sri Lanka (two in Colombo followed by two in Kandy) and are the last of the 20 teams to launch their campaign when they face the Irish at R. Premadasa Stadium on February 11. Warm-up matches are already underway with Australia to fine tune their preparations against Netherlands on Thursday.
Who is broadcasting the tournament?
All 55 matches will again be shown exclusively live on Prime Video in Australia with the subscription streaming service holding the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events until the end of 2027. There is no free-to-air Australian television broadcast under the deal. You can sign up for Prime Video, as well as their 30-day free trial, here.
The platform will take the ICC-produced world feed with the broadcast for each match scheduled to begin around 30 minutes before the first ball. If joining the broadcast late, Prime Video offers a ‘rapid recap’ feature, which will bring fans up to speed on the best action so far.
Prime Video will also produce on-demand highlights packages after every match along with full match replays, available immediately after the match has finished.
Fans in Australia can also listen to every ball of the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup live via the ABC Listen app as well as the “biggest matches”, including all Australia’s games, live on SEN Radio. SEN will call 30 matches across the tournament, including every Super Eight match, both semi-finals and the final.
How’s the time difference?
Outstanding for Australia’s World Cup opener against Ireland on February 11, which will be beamed into loungerooms on the east coast at 8:30pm AEDT. The Aussies’ second match against Zimbabwe on Friday, February 13 is also in a decent timeslot, beginning at 4:30pm AEDT, which equates to an early start (11am local time) for Mitch Marsh’s side in Colombo.
However, their final two group games and first two Super Eight matches, should they qualify, aren’t so great for Australian east coast audiences, with the first ball to be bowled at 12:30am AEDT. All three tournament finals will also start at that time. It’s a bit better for those in Western Australia, who can watch those matches from 9:30pm AWST. Australia’s third Super Eight fixture is then back in the 8:30pm AEDT timeslot.
India and Sri Lanka are part of the same time zone, with all 55 matches to either begin at 11am (during the first group stage), 3pm or 7pm local time, which equates to 4:30pm, 8:30pm or 12:30am the following day in eastern Australia.
What are the host venues?
Matches in Sri Lanka will be split across the R. Premadasa Stadium and Sinhalese Sports Club, both in Colombo, as well as Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy.
The tournament will be played across eight venues in total between February 7 and March 8, with Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad the five Indian cities selected to host matches.
Like the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup, Kolkata’s Eden Gardens and Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium have been selected to stage the two semi-finals on March 4 and 5 respectively, with Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium to host final on March 8. Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium will replace Kolkata as the venue for the first semi-final and Ahmedabad for the final if Pakistan qualifies.
What’s the tournament structure?
The tournament will follow the same format as the previous edition with the top two teams from each of the four groups progressing to the Super Eight phase, which commences on February 21.
The 20 teams have been split into four groups of five for the round-robin first stage of the tournament, with the top two teams to progress after each nation plays their other four group members. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a no result. In the event of a tie, a Super Over will decide the winner.
2026 men’s T20 World Cup groups
Group A: India, USA, Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan
Group B: Australia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Oman
Group C: England, West Indies, Scotland, Italy, Nepal
Group D: South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Canada, UAE
See the full tournament schedule here
Upon completion of the first group stage, the top two teams from each of the four groups will move into the Super Eight stage of the competition. Teams seeded first and second in their groups in the first round will retain that seeding in the next stage regardless of their final position on group table, provided they qualify for the Super Eight phase. Australia are seeded first in Group B, meaning the Aussies will go into Group 1 as X2 in the second round regardless of their position on the table. Should an unseeded team make it out of the group, they will take the seed of the team they knocked out. If there are two unseeded qualifiers, it will revert to ladder position.
Seedings for Super Eight stage
Group 1
Group 2
X1
India
Y1
England
X2
Australia
Y2
New Zealand
X3
West Indies
Y3
Pakistan
X4
South Africa
Y4
Sri Lanka
Based on pre-determined seedings, Australia will play their three Super Eight matches in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi if they qualify. If – and it’s a big if in a T20 tournament – there are no major upsets and all the seeded teams progress, Australia will play West Indies, India and South Africa in that order in their three Super Eight fixtures.
The two top teams from each Super Eight group will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held in Kolkata or Colombo and Mumbai on March 4 and 5 (12:30am AEDT March 5 and 6) respectively. The final will be held in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 8 (12:30am AEDT Monday, March 9). While the ICC are yet to publish the tournament playing conditions, it’s understood there will be reserve days in the event of adverse weather for the semi-finals and the final only.
So, what’s Australia’s schedule?
Australia’s Group B fixtures
February 11: v Ireland, R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo (8:30pm AEDT)
February 13: v Zimbabwe, R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo (4:30pm AEDT)
February 16: v Sri Lanka, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy (Feb 17, 12:30am AEDT)
February 20: v Oman, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy (Feb 21, 12:30am AEDT)
Australia’s Super Eight fixtures (Assuming all seeded teams qualify)
Click here for the full tournament schedule
Who’s in the Aussie squad?
Mitch Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Sean Abbott
Test captain Pat Cummins’ back troubles have ruled him out of the final squad for the T20 World Cup and he has been replaced by left-armer Ben Dwarshuis. In better news, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Ellis and Tim David have all overcome hamstring issues to make the cut, although Hazlewood will remain home to continue his recovery from an Achilles issue during the early part of the tournament.
The Australians have decided to pack their side with spin options to get the most out of the Sri Lankan surfaces on which they will play all their group games before relocating to India for the next stages.
Allrounder Matt Short, who was named in the provisional squad, was replaced by recent T20I debutant Matthew Renshaw a week out from the start of the tournament with selectors looking for more middle-order versatility with captain Mitch Marsh and Travis Head locked in to open during the World Cup.
The George Bailey-led selection unit has foregone carrying a wicketkeeping backup for Josh Inglis with Glenn Maxwell a possible option in their contingency planning.
Get the latest here
The cricket.com.au website and CA Live app is the place to go for live scores and the latest news throughout the 30-day tournament. We’ll also have extensive coverage each day with reports, videos, interviews and behind-the-scenes insights from our crew on the ground in Sri Lanka and India.
The Unplayable Podcast will also be bringing listeners weekly World Cup updates during the group stage and will be joined by special guests to dissect all the talking points from the tournament. Host Josh Schonafinger will then be joined by our reporter Jack Paynter on the ground covering the tournament to recap Australia’s Super Eight and knockout matches, which you can have delivered directly to your podcast feed that morning, so make sure you’re subscribed by clicking on your preferred platform below.
Listen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsListen on iHeart Radio
All the squads
Get the latest on how each of the 20 teams will line up at the 2026 T20 World Cup here:
What is each team wearing?
Seeing the new kits from teams that are may not usually be on the radar is one of the great joys of a World Cup, and this tournament is no exception
What’s the winner get?
Alongside a hefty prize purse, the winners will take home this stunning 3.9kg, 51cm tall trophy handcrafted by silversmiths in a London workshop. Created with silver-plated base metal, the trophy combines five separate metal castings placed together precisely to give the illusion that they travel through each other. There have been six different winners to hold the trophy so far, with West Indies, England and reigning champions India the only teams to have claimed the title twice.
The ICC are yet to confirm the prizemoney for the 2026 tournament, but it’s bound to be at least the same, if not more, than the US$2.45m (then A$3.7m) that India pocketed for winning the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup. Like previous tournaments, all participating teams right down to 20th place will receive part of the prize pool, as well as a five-figure sum for each match won, usually excluding the semi-finals and finals.
