The ICC has introduced two additional knockout games to the men’s T20 World Cup in a revamp of the tournament’s format, which will be used for the first time in Australia and New Zealand in October-November 2028.
The 20-team tournament will still be played across 55 matches, but the new format – announced by the ICC on Wednesday following its recent AGM in Edinburgh – sees a reduction in first-round group games (from 40 to 30), an increase in second-round fixtures (from 12 to 20), and the introduction of two ‘eliminator’ matches – effectively quarter-finals – before the semi-finals.
The first-round group stage has been changed from four groups of five teams to five groups of four teams. The top two teams from each first-round group will still progress, creating a ‘Super 10’ second-round group stage (previously Super Eight) with two groups of five teams.
The winner of each Super 10 group will progress directly to the semi-final, but the second- and third-placed teams in each group will have to play a cross-pool ‘eliminator’ fixture, with the winner of each match qualifying for the semi-final.
The ICC said in a statement that the decision to increase the number of qualifiers for the second round was made due to the “performance of emerging teams” in the 2026 edition in India and Sri Lanka.
“This promises to expand the representation of cricket’s emerging nations in the Super 10 stage while also delivering higher competitive standards,” the ICC said.
It added that the addition of ‘eliminator’ matches “adds significant consequence to the closing matches” of the second group phase, reducing the likelihood of dead-rubbers between already-eliminated sides.
Twelve teams have already qualified for the 2028 men’s T20 World Cup: Australia and New Zealand (as co-hosts); England, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe (by reaching the second round of the 2026 edition); and Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Ireland (via the T20I rankings).
The ICC announced on Wednesday its intention to reintroduce a global qualifier to decide the remaining eight spots, subject to board approval after review by its finance and commercial affairs committee in November.
The 16-team global qualifier would feature eight teams who competed at the T20 World Cup earlier this year but are yet to secure their spots for 2028 (Canada, Italy, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, UAE and USA). The remaining eight spots will be filled by two teams each from the Africa, Asia and Europe qualifiers, plus one each from the Americas and East Asia/Pacific qualifiers.
The ICC also confirmed that Scotland – who played in the 2026 edition as a late replacement following Bangladesh’s withdrawal – will enter the Europe Regional Final, rather than progressing directly to the global qualifier, due to the “exceptional circumstances surrounding [their] participation” earlier this year.
The highest-placed team from each region at the global qualifier and the next three highest-placed teams overall will qualify for the World Cup itself, subject to what the ICC called “minimum performance criteria”.
The revamp of the men’s T20 World Cup format was announced alongside an “evolved” format for next year’s 50-over World Cup in southern Africa.
Cricinfo
