The men’s and women’s cricket competitions at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games will each feature just six (6) teams, making qualification one of the toughest challenges in modern international cricket.

With only six (6) coveted spots available, every ICC tournament, bilateral series and ranking point over the coming months will carry enormous significance.

Six Teams. Ninety Athletes. One Olympic Dream.

Each competition will consist of six national teams, with every country allowed to name a 15-player squad, creating a total athlete quota of 90 players for both the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The limited field means several established cricketing nations could miss out entirely, while Associate nations enjoying rapid growth suddenly have a realistic opportunity to reach the Olympic stage.

How Teams Will Qualify

Under the qualification system, the host nation, the United States, receives automatic qualification provided it meets the eligibility requirements established by the ICC and IOC (T20I Team Ranking of 15 or better in the ICC T20I Men’s Team Rankings at any point of time during the qualification period until 31st December 2026 and as of 01st March 2027 for ICC T20I Women’s Team Rankings). An unused host country place (if USA Men or Women don’t finish in Top 15 or above at any point in time until 31st December 2026 and 01st March 2027 respectively) will be reallocated to the next highest placed eligible team, regardless of the continent, not yet qualified, as per the ICC T20 Men’s or Women’s Team Ranking.

A total of four (4) direct quota places will be allocated. These will be allocated to the highest-ranked eligible NOCs continentally (i.e. the top ranked NOCs from different continents – Europe, Africa and Asia and Oceania), taken from the ICC Men’s T20 Team Rankings on 31st December 2026, resulting in four (4) teams in total.

The next eight (8) highest -ranked eligible teams not yet qualified, based on the ICC Men’s T20 Team Rankings on 31st December 2026 will compete in the Qualifier for both Men’s and Women’s categories, to determine the final spot in the main event.

If the West Indies is ranked among the eight (8) highest-ranked teams not yet qualified, the ICC shall organise a West Indies Nations Regional Tournament to determine which NOC will represent the region at the Final Global Olympic Qualification Tournament or in the main event. As Great Britain takes part in the Olympics, only one British nation, England, will be considered as part of the quotas.

The qualification framework has been designed to align with the Olympic movement’s objective of global participation rather than simply selecting the highest-ranked cricket nations.

Olympic Tournament Format

Once the qualification procedure concludes, the six (6) participating teams will be divided into two (2) groups of three (3). Each side will first play the other two (2) teams in its group before progressing to a crossover phase against teams finishing in corresponding positions from the opposite group.

Following these matches, an overall standings table will determine the medal contests:

• First vs Second – Gold Medal Match
• Third vs Fourth – Bronze Medal Match

This format guarantees every team multiple matches while ensuring the strongest performers reach the medal rounds.

Huge Opportunity for Associate Cricket

Perhaps the biggest winners from the qualification system are the rapidly improving Associate Members. With only six (6) teams participating and qualification no longer solely dependent on traditional cricket powerhouses, countries such as Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Nepal, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Canada and others now have a genuine pathway to Olympic qualification if they perform consistently throughout the qualification cycle.

For many emerging cricket nations, reaching the Olympics would represent the biggest achievement in their cricketing history.

Every ICC Event Now Matters

Unlike previous global tournaments where qualification often depended on a single event, the road to Los Angeles places greater importance on sustained performances across the ICC calendar. Ranking points, regional tournaments and qualification events will all play crucial roles in deciding which six (6) nations eventually walk onto the Olympic field in July 2028.

Denmark Cricket will be hosting the Men’s National teams of Belgium, Estonia, Gibraltar, Hungary, Norway, Romania, Serbia and Türkiye in the tournament from July 08th – 15th,2026. All the teams have been divided into two (2) groups, which will follow a single round-robin group stage format, followed by the Semifinals and the FINAL. Scotland, who were originally scheduled to take part in this tournament, will no longer do so, on account of them replacing Bangladesh in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup.

Group A: Belgium, Romania, Gibraltar and Serbia

Group B: Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary and Türkiye

2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Sub-regional Qualifier B Schedule

08th July 2026: Denmark vs Estonia (Scorecard) ; Belgium vs Gibraltar (Scorecard) ; Norway vs Hungary (Scorecard) ; Romania vs Serbia (Scorecard)

09th July 2026: Türkiye vs Denmark (Scorecard) ; Estonia vs Norway (Scorecard)

10th July 2026: Gibraltar vs Romania (Scorecard) ; Hungary vs Estonia (Scorecard) ; Serbia vs Belgium (Scorecard) ; Norway vs Türkiye (Scorecard)

12th July 2024: Denmark vs Norway (Scorecard) ; Belgium vs Romania (Scorecard) ; Türkiye vs Hungary (Scorecard) ; Gibraltar vs Serbia (Scorecard)

13th July 2026: Hungary vs Denmark (Scorecard) ; Estonia vs Türkiye (Scorecard)

14th July 2026: 3rd/4th Play-off (Scorecard) ; FINAL (Scorecard)

Norway: Khizer Ahmed, Walid Gul Ghauri, Hayatullah Niazi, Muhammad Sher Sahak, Chaudhary Usman Akram, Darshana Abeyrathna Kuruge, Mohammad Ibrahim Rahimi, Mohammad Saif Ul Islam, Muhammad Shabbaz Butt, Qamar Mushtaque, Faisal Raza, Vinay Ravi, Wahidullah Sahak and Ahmadullah Shinwari

Gibraltar: Kieron Ferrary, Louis Bruce, Alexander Hillman, Anthony Hillman, Avinash Pai, Chris Pyle, Iain Latin, Jack Horrocks, James Fitzgerald, Kabir Mirpuri, Kayron Stagno, Matt Walker, Mohamed Roshan and Samarth Bodha

Serbia: Slobodan Tošić, Mark Pavlović, Leslie Dunbar, Alexander Dizija, Nemanja Zimonjić, Vukašin Zimonjić, Wintley Burton, Braithyn Pečić, Matthew Kostić, Luka Woods, Aleksa Lazić, Peter Nedeljković, Milan Janićijević, Bogdan Dugić and Shachin Shinde

Estonia: Arslan Amjad, Steffan Gooch, Aditya Savio, Harri Aggarwal, Zeeshan Ali, Henri Pattenden, Bilal Masud, Habib Khan, Sahil Chauhan, Ashraful Shuvo, Kalle Vislapuu, Aditya Panwar, Rohan Aggarwal and Rudesh Sekaran

As per the original Men’s Associate FTP, T20Is (either a Tri-series or Bi-lateral) were scheduled as part of each Tri-series in the CWC League 2 ODI Championship, but it depends on the participating boards on their own arrangements, as it is not part of ICC funding.

Scotland – Canada – United Arab Emirates ODI Tri-series Schedule

03rd August 2026: Scotland vs UAE – 122nd ODI (Scorecard)

05th August 2026: UAE vs Canada – 123rd ODI (Scorecard)

07th August 2026: Canada vs Scotland – 124th ODI (Scorecard)

09th August 2026: Scotland vs UAE – 125th ODI (Scorecard)

11th August 2026: UAE vs Canada – 126th ODI (Scorecard)

13th August 2026: Canada vs Scotland – 127th ODI (Scorecard)

2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Sub-regional Qualifier A Schedule

21st June 2026: Panama vs Belize (Abandoned) ; Bermuda vs Bahamas (Abandoned)

22nd June 2026: Belize vs Bermuda (Scorecard) ; Brazil vs Panama (Scorecard)

24th June 2026: Panama vs Bahamas (Scorecard) ; Brazil vs Belize (Scorecard)

25th June 2026: Bermuda vs Panama (Scorecard) ; Bahamas vs Brazil (Scorecard)

27th June 2026: Bahamas vs Belize (Scorecard) ; Bermuda vs Brazil (Scorecard)

Bermuda: Terryn Fray, Derrick Brangman, Delray Rawlins, Sinclair Smith, Onias Bascome, Jonté Smith, Dominic Sabir, Isaiah O’Brien, Zeko Burgess, Luke Horan, Zeri Tomlinson, Chare Smith, Nzari Paynter and Charles Trott

Brazil: Michel Assunção, Luiz F. Müller, Chrystian Machado, Lucas Maximo, Luiz H. Morais, Gabriel Oliveira, Luiz A. Gonçalves, Riouelme Verni, Luiz G. Frazão, Willian Maximo, Miguel Hernandes, Yasar Haroon, Breno Passoni and Richard Avery

Belize: Gareth Banner Jr., Maurice Castillo, Andrew Banner Jr., Ordel Casasola, Lawrence Banner, Alex Oxley, Nathan Banner, Kenthon Moses, Roy Broaster, Tayshaun Moses, Kenroy Bevans, Ishaka Patterson, Greg Scott and Leon Mcfadzean

Panama: Anil Ahir, Nathan Inson, Irfan Tarajia, Yahya Bawe, Faizan Patel, Ahmed Patel, Parth Ahir, M. Sohel Patel, Dilipkumar Ahir, Sagarkumar Ahir, Sohel Desai, Parth Patel, Rizwan Mangera and Abdullah Bhoola

Netherlands have been placed in Group 1, and will face the likes of India, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh in the group stage. Scotland have been placed in Group 2, and will face the likes of England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Ireland in the group stage. Women’s Teams of Scotland, Netherlands and Bangladesh will be playing against each other in a Tri-series tournament in May 2026 in Scotland to prepare ahead of the ICC marquee event.

The top four (4) teams from both the groups, at the end of the group stage, will qualify directly for the 2028 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Pakistan.

2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Schedule (Associates only)

Netherlands: Babette de Leede, Caroline de Lange, Frédérique Overdijk, Hannah Landheer, Heather Siegers, Iris Zwilling, Isabel van der Woning, Lara Leemhuis, Myrthe van den Raad, Phebe Molkenboer, Robine Rijke, Rosalie Lawrence, Sanya Khurana, Silver Siegers and Sterre Kalis

Scotland: Kathryn Bryce, Chloe Abel, Olivia Bell, Sarah Bryce, Darcey Carter, Priyanaz Chatterji, Gabriella Fontenla, Katherine Fraser, Kirstie Gordon, Ailsa Lister, Maisie Maceira, Abtaha Maqsood, Megan McColl, Rachel Slater and Pippa Sproul

13th – 14th June 2026: Scotland vs Ireland (Scorecard) ; Netherlands vs Bangladesh (Scorecard)

17th – 18th June 2026: Netherlands vs India (Scorecard) ; Scotland vs West Indies (Scorecard)

20th June 2026: Scotland vs England (Scorecard) ; Netherlands vs Australia (Scorecard)

23rd June 2026: Scotland vs New Zealand (Scorecard)

25th – 26th June 2026: Netherlands vs South Africa (Scorecard) ; Scotland vs Sri Lanka (Scorecard)

27th June 2026: Netherlands vs Pakistan (Scorecard)

Canada U19 Women completed a tour of Antigua in May 2026, and played a series of matches to start their preparations for the Qualifier at home.

2027 ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier Schedule (TBA)

Argentina: Mili Bestani, Vicky Lehmann, Julia Andujar, Ana De Castelli, Mili Garcia Hagen, Jacinta Valencia, Dasha Mastrangelo, Rocio Roquel, Sofi Batteria, Lara Finocchio, Mora Finocchio, Luna Olivera, Anna Reinke and Julia Santos

The Challenge League Play-off qualifier, which was hosted by Malaysia Cricket in February 2024, featured teams from Italy, Bermuda, Malaysia, Vanuatu, Kuwait, Bahrain, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia, from which the top four (4) teams joined the Challenge League groups A and B for the 2027 qualification cycle. Both Challenge League groups will have three (3) rounds each, with all teams in each group getting to play fifteen (15) List-A games and at the end of which, the top two (2) teams from both the groups will advance to the CWC Qualifier Play-off tournament (which will be played with ODI status).

The top four (4) teams in the points table, at the end of 24 rounds of ODI Tri-series (a total of 144 ODIs), will qualify directly into the CWC Qualifier, while the bottom four (4) teams in CWC League 2 will join with the four (4) teams from CWC Challenge League (Top 2 from each group) to constitute the CWC Qualifier Play-off tournament, from which the top four (4) teams will advance to the CWC Qualifier.

In an update provided during the ICC Board meeting in May 2026, all the twelve (12) Teams in the Challenge League competitions can now play against CWC League 2 Teams and within themselves, 50-overs format matches with List-A status.

2024-2027 CWC League 2 Series Schedule

1. Oman Schedule
2. Nepal Schedule
3. Namibia Schedule
4. Netherlands Schedule
5. Canada Schedule
6. Scotland Schedule
7. United States of America Schedule

2024-2027 ICC CWC Challenge League Teams

Group A: Jersey, Kuwait, Papua New Guinea, Denmark, Kenya, Qatar

Group B: Uganda, Italy, Hong Kong-China, Bahrain, Tanzania, Singapore

As per the original Men’s Associate FTP, T20Is (either a Tri-series or Bi-lateral) were scheduled as part of each Tri-series in the CWC League 2 ODI Championship, but it depends on the participating boards on their own arrangements, as it is not part of ICC funding.

Canada – USA – Netherlands ODI Tri-series Schedule

Canada: Saad Bin Zafar, Harsh Thaker, Aaron Johnson, Akhil Kumar, Ali Nadeem Abbasi, Anoop Chima, Matthew Spoors, Nicholas Kirton, Pargat Singh, Sana Kaleem, Shivam Sharma, Shreyas Movva, Sukhjinder Singh, Yuvraj Samra and Zahid Ullah Shirzad

Netherlands: Scott Edwards, Alex Roy, Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede, Cedric de Lange, Daniel Doram, Kyle Klein, Max O’Dowd, Michael Levitt, Noah Croes, Olivier Elenbaas, Roelof van der Merwe, Sebastiaan Braat, Vikramjit Singh and Zach Lion-Cachet

United States of America: Eshan Adil, Shayan Jahangir, Shehan Jayasuriya, Nosthush Kenjige, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Milind Kumar, Yasir Mohammad, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Saurabh Netravalkar, Monank Patel, Smit Patel, Shubham Ranjane, Ritvik Appidi, Harmeet Singh and Rushil Ugarkar

06th June 2026: Canada vs USA – 110th ODI (Scorecard)

08th June 2026: USA vs Netherlands – 111th ODI (Scorecard)

10th June 2026: Canada vs Netherlands – 112th ODI (Scorecard)

12th June 2026: Canada vs USA – 113th ODI (Scorecard)

14th June 2026: USA vs Netherlands – 114th ODI (Abandoned)

16th June 2026: Canada vs Netherlands – 115th ODI (Abandoned)

The ICC Board in October 2024 approved a series of women’s Associate Member (AM) T20 competitions to boost the competitiveness of AM teams in preparation for the expansion of ICC women’s events in the 2028-2031 cycle. The strategy includes the creation of two (2) annual T20 International tournaments between 2025 and 2028 which would offer structured cricket with context to 24 teams in the pathway ahead of the 16-team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2030.

More to follow.

Cyprus Cricket will be hosting the Men’s National teams of Austria, Croatia, France, Guernsey, Jersey, Malta, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland in Qualifier A from May 16th – 23rd, 2026. The teams have been divided into two (2) groups, and will follow a single round-robin group stage format, followed by FINAL between the top two (2) teams from each group and position Play-off matches from third (3rd) to eighth (8th) place. The winner of the tournament will advance to the Europe Qualifier in 2027.

Whilst France Cricket continues the process of independent recognition as a National Governing Body under the French Ministry of Sport, all national representative teams are required to compete as France Cricket in accordance with local regulations as stipulated by the French Government.

Group A: Jersey, France, Switzerland, Cyprus and Croatia

Group B: Austria, Guernsey, Malta, Sweden and Slovenia

2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Sub-regional Qualifier A Schedule

16th May 2026: France vs Cyprus (Scorecard) ; Jersey vs Switzerland (Scorecard) ; Guernsey vs Sweden (Scorecard) ; Austria vs Malta (Scorecard)

17th May 2026: Malta vs Guernsey (Scorecard) ; Slovenia vs Austria (Scorecard) ; Croatia vs France (Scorecard) ; Cyprus vs Jersey (Scorecard)

19th May 2026: Jersey vs France (Scorecard) ; Switzerland vs Croatia (Scorecard) ; Sweden vs Slovenia (Scorecard) ; Guernsey vs Austria (Scorecard)

20th May 2026: Slovenia vs Guernsey (Scorecard) ; Sweden vs Malta (Scorecard) ; Switzerland vs Cyprus (Scorecard) ; Croatia vs Jersey (Scorecard)

22nd May 2026: France vs Switzerland (Scorecard) ; Cyprus vs Croatia (Scorecard) ; Austria vs Sweden (Scorecard) ; Malta vs Slovenia (Scorecard)

23rd May 2026: 3rd/4th Play-Off (Scorecard) ; FINAL (Scorecard) ; 7th/8th Play-Off (Scorecard) ; 5th/6th Play-Off (Scorecard)

Slovenia: Izaz Ali, Shivakumar Mani, Owen Groves, Jack Kovačič, Arul Kumaran, Dinesh Matla, Dileep Kumar Pallekonda, Muhammad Shahid Arshad, Saeed Waqar Ali, Taher Mohammad, Tarun Sharma, Waqar Khan, Rizwan Zahoor and Tomaž Pazlar

France: Abdurrahman Ahmadzai, Ahmad Zai Kamran, Ahmed Zaheer Zahiri, Christian John Roberts, Gustav Mckeon, Hevit Alodin Jackson, Mohammad Rafah Khan, Dawood Ahmadzai, Nasibullah Arab, Noman Amjad, Rahimgul Naseri, Usman Khan, Virk Mohammad Ali and Zada Sher

Jersey: Scott Van Breda, Charlie Brennan, Charles Perchard, George Richardson, Julius Sumerauer, Daniel Birrell, Nick Greenwood, Jonty Jenner, Dominic Blampied, Benjamin Ward, Patrick Gouge, Zak Tribe, Harrison Carlyon and Theo Pullman

Guernsey: Lucas Barker, Luke Bichard, Martin-Dale Bradley, Alex Bushell, Josh Butler, Oliver Clapham, Zak Damarell, Ben Ferbrache, Charlie Forshaw, Adam Martel, Ollie Nightingale, Tom Nightingale, Ed Robinson and Matt Stokes

Croatia: Anthony Razmilic, Petar Bosnjak, Connor Carroll, Andrija Curavic, Nikola Davidovic, Damien Hall, Rashid Hashmi, Sam Houghton, Sajid Khan, Saghar Manzoor, Jared Newton, Borna Pejic, Matija Separovic and Oliver Tilley

Austria: Aqib Javed Iqbal, Umair Tariq, Zeshan Arif, Kumud Ranjan Jha, Mehar Partap Singh Cheema, Baseer Khan, Karanbir Singh, Mohammed Zalmai, Imran Asif, Irfan Safi, Armaan Randhawa, Nageebullah Sultanzai, Amar Naeem and Mohammad Bilal Zalmai

Sweden: Ajay Mundra, Awais Ahmad, Abdul Baluch, Shreyas Swamy, Zaid Ahmad, Advait Dhabe, Darshan Lakhani, Imal Zuwak, Saeed Ahmed, Sami Rahmani, Wynand Boshoff, Yatharth Chauhan, Zabiullah Zahid and Zain Muzaffar