T20 World Cup 2026: Italy Qualifies for the First Time

July 12, 2025 - Italy has confirmed their place in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka next year. This is the first time Italy has qualified for this tournament. They secured their spot by defeating Guernsey and Scotland in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier 2025.

15 Teams Qualified So Far

Italy has become the 15th team to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2026. The 14th team is the Netherlands. Still, five more teams will qualify through the regional qualifier tournaments. Two teams will come from Africa, one from the Americas, and three teams from the Asia or East Asia-Pacific region.

20 Teams Will Play in T20 World Cup 2026

A total of 20 teams will take part in the T20 World Cup 2026. Other teams that have already qualified based on their performance or rankings are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies, and the United States. These teams reached the Super Eight stage in the last T20 World Cup. Apart from them, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Ireland have also qualified based on their T20I rankings.

Netherlands Beat Italy in the Final

The Netherlands defeated Italy by nine wickets in the final match of the European Qualifier, played at Sportpark Westvliet in The Hague. Italy had earlier defeated Scotland to take a big step toward qualification. Their better net run rate helped them reach the main tournament. Jersey also had a big win against Scotland earlier in the day. Both Jersey and Italy had five points, but Italy’s net run rate was higher, so they qualified.

Joe Burns Led Italy’s Historic Entry

Captain Joe Burns deserves a lot of credit for Italy's success. Burns, who has played 23 Test matches for Australia, moved to Italy in 2024 through his grandparents. Under his captaincy, Italy played very well. They defeated Guernsey and Scotland in the qualifiers, while their match against Jersey was cancelled owing to rain.

Teams Qualified for T20 World Cup 2026 So Far

The teams that have qualified are India, Sri Lanka, Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, United States, West Indies, Ireland, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Canada, Italy and Netherlands.