India to Australia: Full list of teams already qualified for T20 WC 2028
A total of 12 teams have already booked their place in the ICC T20 World Cup 2028, leaving only eight spots left open
The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is still in its group stages; however, the ICC on Wednesday has already announced the list of 12 teams that have already booked their place in the 2028 edition of the competition to be held in Australia and New Zealand.
The released list is of host teams, teams qualified on the basis of Super 8 qualification in 2024 and highest-ranked teams in T20Is on cutoff date.
Australia-New Zealand gets default qualification
The 2021 champions Australia, along with New Zealand, were the first two teams to qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup 2028 through the host quota, which allows teams hosting the tournament to get default qualification.
Notably, this has saved Australia from having to look for other modes to qualify for the next edition of the tournament after failing to qualify for the Super 8s in 2026.
India amongst teams to get qualification on performance basis
Seven teams, including India, Sri Lanka, England, West Indies, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and South Africa, have confirmed their spots in the 2028 edition of the T20 World Cup after qualifying for the Super 8. The ICC initially allocated eight spots through this pathway, but since New Zealand already qualified through the host quota, only seven teams were allocated the spots.
Based on ICC rankings
As per ICC rules, the third pathway to qualify for T20 World Cup events is on the basis of top teams in ICC rankings on the day after the final of the ongoing T20 World Cup edition. The 2026 T20 World Cup will end on March 8, and with no T20I matches supposed to take place in between to affect the ranking of lower teams, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Ireland have also booked their place for the event in Australia and New Zealand, taking the total number of already qualified teams to 12.
How the remaining spots will be filled?
The 2028 ICC T20 World Cup will also feature 20 teams, just like 2026, which means eight more teams will have the chance to qualify for the marquee event. Earlier, the ICC used to hold global qualifiers but now they hold regional qualifiers.
Three spots of the remaining eight are given to Asian EAP qualifiers, two spots each to African and European qualifiers, while one team is decided through American qualifiers.
The regional qualifiers will take place from 2027 to early 2028, with more than 40 teams battling it out for the remaining eight spots.