T20 World Cup 2028: Dates, Venues, Teams and Format Explained

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With the conclusion of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, attention in international cricket has already shifted to the next edition of the tournament. The upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2028 will mark the 11th edition of the global event and will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from October 21 to November 19, 2028, returning the event to the Southern Hemisphere for a major multi-nation competition featuring 20 teams.

Here is a complete breakdown of the key details surrounding the next T20 World Cup.

When and where will the 2028 T20 World Cup be held?

The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2028 will run from October 21 to November 19, 2028.

It will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. For Australia, it will be the second time hosting the tournament after staging the 2022 edition. For New Zealand, however, 2028 will mark the first time the country hosts a men's T20 World Cup.

Matches are expected to be played at some of the most iconic cricket venues across both nations. Likely venues include:

Australia

• Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
• Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
• Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
• Optus Stadium, Perth

New Zealand

• Eden Park, Auckland
• Sky Stadium, Wellington
• Hagley Oval, Christchurch

The final list of venues is still being finalised by tournament organisers.

Which teams have already qualified?

The tournament will feature 20 teams, continuing the format introduced in the 2024 edition.

So far, 12 teams have already secured qualification for the 2028 event.

Automatic qualifiers

The host nations qualify automatically:

Australia national cricket team
New Zealand national cricket team

Teams qualifying from the 2026 Super 8 stage

The teams that reached the Super 8 stage of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 also secured places:

• India national cricket team
• England national cricket team
• South Africa national cricket team
• Pakistan national cricket team
• West Indies cricket team
• Sri Lanka national cricket team
• Zimbabwe national cricket team

Teams qualifying through ICC rankings

Three additional teams secured qualification through the ICC T20I rankings cutoff:

• Afghanistan national cricket team
• Bangladesh national cricket team
• Ireland cricket team

How will the remaining teams qualify?

Eight spots are still available for the tournament.

These will be decided through regional qualification tournaments that begin in mid-2026. Teams from different regions will compete in sub-regional and regional qualifiers before progressing to the final stage of qualification.

This system ensures that associate nations from regions such as Europe, the Americas and Africa still have a pathway to reach the main tournament.

What will the 2028 T20 World Cup format look like?

The structure of the competition will remain the same as the 2026 edition.

The 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five during the opening round.

From there:

1. The top teams from each group advance to the Super 8 stage.
2. The tournament then moves to the knockout stage, featuring semi-finals and the final.

This format balances a longer group stage with a high-stakes knockout finish.

India enter as defending champions

India national cricket team will head into the 2028 tournament as the defending champions after winning the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 title.

Meanwhile, New Zealand national cricket team - runners-up in 2026 - will hope home conditions help them secure their first men's T20 World Cup title.