New Delhi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday approved a new format for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028, introducing an Eliminators round and revising the qualification pathway to give emerging cricket nations greater opportunities.
The tournament will continue to feature 20 teams, but the competition format has been changed following the encouraging performances of developing nations at the 2026 edition, the ICC said in a press release.
The group stage will now consist of five groups of four teams, replacing the earlier format of four groups of five. The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super 10 stage.
The Super 10 will feature two groups of five teams, with each side playing the others once. The winners of the two groups will qualify directly for the semi-finals.
A new Eliminators round has also been introduced. The second-placed team from each Super 10 group will face the third-placed team from the opposite group. The two winners will complete the semi-final line-up before the tournament proceeds to the semi-finals and final.
Twelve teams have already secured their places in the 2028 tournament based on their performances at the 2026 T20 World Cup and ICC rankings. They are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and Zimbabwe.
The ICC has also revised the qualification pathway for the 2028 edition.
Scotland has been granted direct entry to the Europe Regional Final after exceptional circumstances surrounding its qualification for the 2026 tournament, where it replaced Bangladesh.
The remaining teams that featured in the 2026 World Cup but missed automatic qualification – Canada, Italy, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, the UAE and the US – will advance directly to the Global Qualifier.
The remaining eight Global Qualifier places will be decided through regional qualification tournaments, with two teams each advancing from Africa, Asia, and Europe, and one each from the Americas and East Asia-Pacific regions.
From the Global Qualifier, the highest-ranked team from each region will qualify for the 2028 T20 World Cup, along with the next three best-performing teams overall, subject to minimum performance criteria.
The revised format and qualification pathway were endorsed by the ICC Board following recommendations from the ICC Development Committee and the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee. Final approval will be considered after a review by the ICC Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee at its November meeting.
