T20 WC 2026: An explainer on ICC's pre-assigned seedings

India will be designated A1 and Pakistan A2, regardless of their final positions in Group A. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that the seedings are fixed for logistical reasons, ensuring India remain A1, with an identical seedings applied to all participating teams.

Australia will be B1, England C1 and New Zealand D1 irrespective of their placings in their respective groups. Sri Lanka take the B2 spot, West Indies are C2 and Pakistan will feature as A2. USA will be A3, while Ireland, Bangladesh and Afghanistan occupy B3, C3 and D3 respectively. All teams will be identified by their seedings going forward in the 55-match 20-team championship, scheduled from February 7 to March 8 in India and Sri Lanka.

USA, Namibia and Netherlands are in one Group (A), with Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Oman in Group B, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal and Italy in Group C with New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, UAE and Canada comprising Group D in the 20-team championship.

The 20 participating teams have earned their places through a multi-tier qualification process based on performance in the previous World Cup (In 2024), ICC rankings and continental pathway events.

India (champions), South Africa (runners-up), England and Afghanistan (semifinalists), along with Australia and Bangladesh (third and fourth in Group 1 of the Super Eights), West Indies (third in Group 2) and the USA (fourth in Group 2), secured their berths as the top eight finishers in the previous edition.

The next four teams qualified through the ICC rankings, July 25, 2025 being the cut-off date. New Zealand (4th), Sri Lanka (7th), Pakistan (8th) and Ireland (11th) earned their spots through this route.

The remaining eight places were filled via continental pathways: Zimbabwe and Namibia as Africa's top two, Canada as the leading side from the Americas and Nepal, Oman and the UAE as the top three from Asia and the East Asia-Pacific region. The Netherlands and Italy have qualified by emerging as Europe's No. 1 and No. 2 sides in Europe qualifiers.

For the Super 8 stage, the ICC identified India as X1. England will be Y1, Australia X2, New Zealand Y2, West Indies X3, Pakistan Y3, South Africa X4 and Sri Lanka Y4 have been seeded for the Super 8 stage. If any of these eight teams do not qualify for the Super 8, then the teams that qualify from their respective groups will replace them.

"This World Cup will witness Italy making its World Cup debut after a history-defining win in the European Qualifier and Nepal looking to harness the rising wave of Cricketing passion sweeping its young population. USA will seek to again punch above its weight and other upstarts, with ICC's support, are raising their standards of performance, chasing the possibilities of glory that this platform creates," said ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta, while unveiling the World Cup draw in Mumbai.

He added, "Twenty teams from across 5 continents will be hosted by more than a billion fans across India and Sri Lanka…one the defending champion and the other a former title-winner. He went on to point that India will play a T20 World Cup for the first time without any of their modern-day icons – MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Group A: India, Pak, USA, Namibia and Netherlands

Group B: Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Oman

Group C: England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal and Italy

Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, UAE and Canada

A1: India, A2: Pakistan, A3: USA, A4: Netherlands, A5: Namibia

B1: Australia, B2: Sri Lanka, B3: Ireland, B4: Zimbabwe, B5: Oman

C1: England, C2: West Indies, C3: Bangladesh, C4: Nepal, C5: Italy

D1: New Zealand, D2: South Africa, D3: Afghanistan, D4: Canada, D5: UAE