Nepal and Oman have secured two out of three spots available for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 at the ongoing Asia/East-Asia-Pacific (EAP) Qualifier tournament. These two nations have become the 18th and 19th teams to make the World Cup, which will be played in India and Sri Lanka at the start of next year, leaving the 20th and final spot for the remaining teams in the qualifying tournament currently being played in Muscat, Oman.
The pivotal moment for both Nepal and Oman happened after the UAE defeated Samoa by 77 runs, which confirmed that they will stay in the top three in the Super Six points table of the Asia/EAP Qualifier tournament regardless of the results in all the remaining matches. With that, the UAE, Qatar, Samoa, and Japan are fighting
for the third and final spot for the T20 World Cup 2026 set to be determined at the conclusion of the tournament.
Nepal and Oman have made the T20 World Cup for third time in their history
It is important to note that this is the third time that Nepal will be playing the T20 World Cup next year after competing in it during 2014 and last year. Oman were a part of the last T20 World Cup in 2024 in the USA and the Caribbean, and they have now successfully reached the tournament for the third time in their history with the first instance happening in 2016.
The T20 World Cup will have 20 teams in it for the second time in a row in 2026 after its previous edition proved to be a big success on the commercial front for the ICC. The upcoming edition will be played from February 6 to March 7 in India and Sri Lanka with all the matches of Pakistan set to be played in the island nation due to the deal brokered between BCCI and PCB by the ICC in regards to neutral venues.
