T20 World Cup 2026: England v Nepal; India face Pakistan

The schedule for the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup has been released. The 10th edition takes place in India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March, with England opening their campaign against Nepal in Mumbai on Sunday 8 February.

England, winners in 2010 and 2022 and semi-finalists in 2024, are drawn in Group C alongside debutants Italy, two-time champions West Indies and Bangladesh. England's group matches: Nepal (Mumbai, 8 Feb), West Indies (Mumbai, 11 Feb), Bangladesh (Kolkata, 14 Feb) and Italy (Kolkata, 16 Feb). This tournament will be Harry Brook's first global event leading England as captain.

Groups

Group A: India, Pakistan, Namibia, Netherlands, USA
Group B: Australia, Ireland, Oman, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe
Group C: Bangladesh, England, Italy, Nepal, West Indies
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, UAE

Defending champions India are paired with Pakistan in Group A; that high-profile fixture is set for Colombo on 15 February. India and Pakistan currently meet only in global tournaments and neutral-venue Asia Cups. Pakistan begin the event against the Netherlands in Colombo on Saturday 7 February (05:30 UK).

Match timing and venues

During the group stage there will be three matches per day at UK times of 05:30, 09:30 and 13:30 until the group phase ends on 20 February. The Super 8s follow immediately after. The semi-finals are scheduled for 4 and 5 March, and the final for 8 March. The location of Semi-final 1 and the final is conditional on Pakistan reaching the knockouts: Semi-final 1 will be played in Colombo if Pakistan qualify for the knockouts, otherwise in Kolkata; the final will be at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad unless Pakistan feature, in which case it will be staged in Colombo.

Venues

India: Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai
Sri Lanka: Colombo (R. Premadasa Stadium), Colombo (Sinhalese Sports Club), Kandy

Full group-stage fixtures (all times UK/Ireland)

Saturday 7 Feb

Pakistan v Netherlands (Colombo, 05:30) — Group A
West Indies v Bangladesh (Kolkata, 09:30) — Group C
India v USA (Mumbai, 13:30) — Group A

Sunday 8 Feb

New Zealand v Afghanistan (Chennai, 05:30) — Group D
England v Nepal (Mumbai, 09:30) — Group C
Sri Lanka v Ireland (Colombo, 13:30) — Group B

Monday 9 Feb

Bangladesh v Italy (Kolkata, 05:30) — Group C
Zimbabwe v Oman (Colombo, 09:30) — Group B
South Africa v Canada (Ahmedabad, 13:30) — Group D

Tuesday 10 Feb

Netherlands v Namibia (New Delhi, 05:30) — Group A
New Zealand v UAE (Chennai, 09:30) — Group D
Pakistan v USA (Colombo, 13:30) — Group A

Wednesday 11 Feb

South Africa v Afghanistan (Ahmedabad, 05:30) — Group D
Australia v Ireland (Colombo, 09:30) — Group B
England v West Indies (Mumbai, 13:30) — Group C

Thursday 12 Feb

Sri Lanka v Oman (Kandy, 05:30) — Group B
Nepal v Italy (Mumbai, 09:30) — Group C
India v Namibia (New Delhi, 13:30) — Group A

Friday 13 Feb

Australia v Zimbabwe (Colombo, 05:30) — Group B
Canada v UAE (New Delhi, 09:30) — Group D
USA v Netherlands (Chennai, 13:30) — Group A

Saturday 14 Feb

Ireland v Oman (Colombo, 05:30) — Group B
England v Bangladesh (Kolkata, 09:30) — Group C
New Zealand v South Africa (Ahmedabad, 13:30) — Group D

Sunday 15 Feb

West Indies v Nepal (Mumbai, 05:30) — Group C
USA v Namibia (Chennai, 09:30) — Group A
India v Pakistan (Colombo, 13:30) — Group A

Monday 16 Feb

Afghanistan v UAE (New Delhi, 05:30) — Group D
England v Italy (Kolkata, 09:30) — Group C
Australia v Sri Lanka (Kandy, 13:30) — Group B

Tuesday 17 Feb

New Zealand v Canada (Chennai, 05:30) — Group D
Ireland v Zimbabwe (Kandy, 09:30) — Group B
Bangladesh v Nepal (Mumbai, 13:30) — Group C

Wednesday 18 Feb

South Africa v UAE (New Delhi, 05:30) — Group D
Pakistan v Namibia (Colombo, 09:30) — Group A
India v Netherlands (Ahmedabad, 13:30) — Group A

Thursday 19 Feb

West Indies v Italy (Kolkata, 05:30) — Group C
Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe (Colombo, 13:30) — Group B
Afghanistan v Canada (Chennai, 13:30) — Group D

Friday 20 Feb

Australia v Oman (Kandy, 13:30) — Group B

Super 8s (selected fixtures)

Saturday 21 Feb — Y2 v Y3 (Colombo, 13:30)

Sunday 22 Feb — Y1 v Y4 (Kandy, 09:30); X1 v X4 (Ahmedabad, 13:30)

Monday 23 Feb — X2 v X3 (Mumbai, 13:30)

Tuesday 24 Feb — Y1 v Y3 (Kandy, 13:30)

Wednesday 25 Feb — Y2 v Y4 (Colombo, 13:30)

Thursday 26 Feb — X3 v X4 (Ahmedabad, 09:30); X1 v X2 (Chennai, 13:30)

Friday 27 Feb — Y1 v Y2 (Colombo, 13:30)

Saturday 28 Feb — Y3 v Y4 (Kandy, 13:30)

Sunday 1 Mar — X2 v X4 (New Delhi, 09:30); X1 v X3 (Kolkata, 13:30)

Knockout rounds

Wednesday 4 Mar — Semi-final 1 (Kolkata or Colombo, 13:30)

Thursday 5 Mar — Semi-final 2 (Mumbai, 13:30)

Sunday 8 Mar — Final (Ahmedabad or Colombo, 13:30)

How teams qualified

Hosts: India, Sri Lanka

Automatic/provisional spots via 2024 performance and rankings: England, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, South Africa, USA, West Indies, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan

Regional qualifiers: Italy (Europe), Netherlands (Europe), Canada (Americas), Namibia (Africa), Zimbabwe (Africa), Nepal (Asia-Pacific), Oman (Asia-Pacific), UAE (Asia-Pacific)

Debutant: Italy are the only new team in this edition.

Past winners (T20 World Cup)

2007 India; 2009 Pakistan; 2010 England; 2012 West Indies; 2014 Sri Lanka; 2016 West Indies; 2021 Australia; 2022 England; 2024 India.

Tournament format

Each team plays the other teams in its group once; the top two from each group advance to the Super 8s. The Super 8s form two groups of four, with the top two from each progressing to the semi-finals and then the final.

Key points to watch

England's opening match vs Nepal on 8 February marks the start of their bid for a third T20 title under new captain Harry Brook.
India v Pakistan in Colombo on 15 February is a major fixture and could influence knockout venue decisions.
Three daily group matches and compact scheduling make squad depth and recovery important throughout the tournament.