QUALIFICATION PATHWAY
Follow UsThe T20 World Cup 2022 may have come to an end, but the tussle for places for the next edition has already begun. We already have 12 teams that have secured an automatic qualification for the marquee event in 2024.
Before we get into the teams, it would apt to first point out that there will be as many as 20 teams participating in 2024, four more than this year. Speaking of the structure of the competition, there will not be first round of matches ahead of the Super 12 as we have seen in the last two editions.
The 20 teams will be divided equally into four groups. The top two from each group will progress through to the Super eights. The eight teams will take on each other and the top four teams will then make it through to the semi-finals.
So, which teams have already qualified for the 2024 T20 World Cup?
As hosts, the West Indies and USA have already secured an automatic qualification. However, the same logic was not applied for the 2027 50-over World Cup which is set to be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. While the Proteas and Zimbabwe have been granted automatic qualification as “full-member hosts”, the Eagles will be forced play the Qualifiers.
The United States will be hosting an ICC tournament for the first time, while the West Indies hosted the T20 World Cup back in 2010, where incidentally, England won their first title.
The West Indies suffered an embarrassing exit from the World Cup without progressing to the Super 12s following losses to Scotland and Ireland.
The top eight teams from the T20 World Cup 2022 too have made it through ,i.e., teams that finished top four in Group 1 and Group 2 in the Super 12 stage. From Group 1, New Zealand, England, Australia and Sri Lanka make it through, while from Group 2, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Netherlands are through.
The Dutch, who won the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in 2019 and finished runners-up earlier this year, had to cause one of the biggest upsets in the T20 World Cup 2022 to cement their place in the top four. They downed South Africa by 13 runs and were also helped by Pakistan beating Bangladesh in the following game that eventually secured their place.
The Netherlands therefore are the only associate nation to have booked their place in the next T20 World Cup (so far).
As Bangladesh and Afghanistan are the next two best ranked sides outside the above mentioned teams that have qualified, they too have booked their place to North America.
According to the ICC T20I team rankings, Bangladesh are ninth with 222 ranking points, while the Afghans are just a spot below them at 10th with 217 points. November 14, 2022 was the cut-off date that the ICC had assigned for teams to secure automatic qualifications.
Teams with automatic qualification for the T20 World Cup 2024: USA, West Indies (Co-hosts), New Zealand, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Netherlands (Top eight teams in T20 World Cup 2022), Bangladesh, Afghanistan (Highest ranked side outside qualified teams).
The good news is teams like Namibia, UAE, Scotland, Zimbabwe, Ireland and others too have a chance to make it through. The remaining eight spots will be decided through regional qualifiers. Here are the pathways for the rest of the teams to make it through to the T20 World Cup 2024:
African Qualifier
No. of berths for 2024: 2
No. of teams participating: 19
Teams: Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Seychelles, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Namibia, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Americas Qualifier
No. of berths for 2024: 1
No. of teams participating: 9
Teams: Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Panama, Suriname, Canada
Asia Qualifier
No. of berths for 2024: 2
No. of teams participating: 16
Teams: Iran, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Nepal, Oman, Singapore, United Arab Emirates
East Asia-Pacific Qualifier (Regional Final)
No. of berths for 2024: 1
No. of teams participating: 4
Teams: Japan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Vanuatu
Europe Qualifier (Regional Final)
No. of berths for 2024: 2
No. of teams participating: 7
Teams: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Scotland
