According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), Pakistan has qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup despite a dismal performance in the 2024 tournament.
Pakistan, the 2009 winners and runners-up in 2007 and 2022, lost their first two matches from positions they could have won and were eliminated early.
After suffering a humiliating defeat to USA in the Super Over, they lost to arch rivals India by six runs, just falling short of the target of 120.
Later, rain-affected matches between Ireland and USA resulted in equal points, meaning Pakistan were indirectly eliminated from the group stage of a T20 World Cup tournament for the first time in history.
Rumours of discord within the squad have emerged amid a below-expected performance in the tournament, while the Pakistan Cricket Board president promised a “major surgery” on the team after their elimination was confirmed last week.
Turning their attention to the next edition of the tournament, the ICC today announced that Sri Lanka and India will secure the top two spots for the 2026 tournament.
“From there, the next 10 spots were determined by the 2024 edition of the Super Eight Qualifiers and the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings on the cut-off date of June 30,” it said.
The ICC announced that Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa and the West Indies, along with the United States, had qualified through “strong performances in the first round and participation in the Super Eights”.
“Despite failing to qualify for the Super Eight, Babar Azam’s team has secured a place in the next edition of the tournament along with New Zealand (6th) and Ireland (11th) by virtue of their T20I ranking (7th),” the ICC added, rounding off the teams that have qualified.
It was concluded that the final eight teams for the 2026 tournament would be determined through regional qualifiers, with the number of spots per region determined.
