The 2028 ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be the eleventh edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket from 21 October to 19 November 2028. It will be the first time that New Zealand would host the event, while Australia had previously hosted the competition in 2022. A total of twenty teams will compete in 55 matches.
Twenty teams will compete in the tournament, which includes the teams from the two hosts, the top seven teams from the previous edition, the three highest-ranked teams in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings not already qualified, and eight other teams determined through a Global Qualifier tournament.
India are the defending champions.
Background The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is a biennial world cup for cricket in Twenty20 International (T20I) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was first played in 2007 in South Africa, and the 2028 tournament will mark its eleventh edition. The tenth edition, held in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, was contested by 20 teams, and was won by India, who defeated New Zealand in the final.
Host selection In November 2021 as part of the 2024–2031 ICC men's hosts cycle, the ICC announced that the 2028 Men's T20 World Cup would be played in Australia and New Zealand. It would be the first time New Zealand Cricket would host the competition while, Cricket Australia had previously hosted the competition in 2022.
Format In July 2026, the ICC announced a new format for the tournament. The 20 qualifying teams will be divided into five groups of four each. In the group stage, each team will play each of the other teams in the group once in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group will advance to the Super 10 stage, where the 10 teams will be divided into two groups of five teams each, and play a second round of round-robin matches.
The top three teams from each Super 10 group will advance to the knockout stage, which consists of two eliminators, two semi-finals and the final. For the first time in the tournament's history, the knockout stage was expanded to feature six teams. Group winners of the Super 10 stage will directly advance to the semi-finals, while the second-placed and third-placed teams will compete in two eliminator matches whose winners will advance to the semi-finals.
Schedule In March 2026, the ICC announced that the 2028 tournament will be held from 21 October to 19 November 2028. The tournament will be part of the 2027–2031 ICC Men's Future Tours Programme.
Qualification
In July 2026, the ICC confirmed the qualification process with the reintroduction of the Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier which served as the third stage of the qualification pathway until 2022. The hosts, Australia and New Zealand, along with the teams that reached the Super 8 stage of the previous tournament: England, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe; qualified directly for the 2028 tournament. The remaining three direct qualification places were allocated to the next best-ranked teams in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings as on 9 March 2026, that had not finished in the top seven: Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Ireland. The eight remaining places will be determined through a Global Qualifier tournament, in which the bottom eight teams from the previous T20 World Cup (excluding Scotland): Canada, Italy, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the United States; along with the eight teams advancing from the regional qualifiers will compete.
+ Teams qualified for the tournament Method of qualification No. of teams Teams qualified Hosts 2026 Men's T20 World Cup(Top teams from the previous tournament, excluding hosts) ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings Global Qualifier TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD Total 20
Group stage The 20 teams will be divided into five groups of four with each team facing the other teams in the group. The group stage will feature a total of 30 matches.
Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Super 10 stage The top two teams from the five groups advance to the Super 10 stage, where they will be divided into two groups of five teams each. In the Super 10 stage, each team plays the others in their respective group in a round-robin format, with the top three teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
Qualification Super 10 stage Group 1 Group 2 (Top 2 teams from each group)
Group 1
Group 2
Knockout stage The knockout stage consists of two eliminators, two semi-finals and the final. The winners of each Super 10 group will directly advance to the semi-finals, while the second-placed and third-placed teams would compete in two eliminator matches with the winners advancing to the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will progress to the final.
Bracket
Source:
Eliminators
Semi-finals
Final
References