The next qualification pathway event on the road to India and Sri Lanka 2026 begins on Sunday, with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Europe Sub Regional Qualifier B set to take centre stage in Germany.
Following Italy’s triumph at last month’s Sub Regional Qualifier A, ten more European teams arrived in Duisburg on Friday with a spot at next year’s Europe Qualifier firmly in their sights.
Belgium, Croatia, Gibraltar, Jersey, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland will join the hosts for eight days of competition, where 24 matches will take place across two tournament venues – the Krefeld Cricket Ground and the Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground.
The format of the event sees an initial group stage featuring two groups of five. A series of round-robin fixtures will precede the playoff matches on Sunday 14 July, which will include a winner-takes-all encounter between the top two teams with a ticket to the next round of qualification up for grabs.
With the thrilling action of the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies still fresh in the memory, the event in Germany promises to provide plenty of drama as teams strive for the chance to compete for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket in India and Sri Lanka in 2026.
Fans around the world will be able to watch all matches live on ICC.tv, while fans in India can follow the action on FanCode.
ICC Europe Regional Development Manager, Andrew Wright, commented: “We are delighted to be continuing our fantastic summer of men’s international cricket with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Qualifier B in Germany.
“Having concluded a successful Qualifier A in Rome last month, we’re excited to be offering the Deutscher Cricket Bund the opportunity to host an ICC event of this size for the very first time. Yet again, we have ten participating teams who all go into the competition with their sights firmly set on advancing to next year’s Europe Qualifier, just one step away from India and Sri Lanka.
“For those in the Nordrhein Westfalen region, we hope you enjoy the live action and for those further afield, you can watch it all on ICC.tv. We hope you enjoy the cricket.”
Deutscher Cricket Bund Chief Executive, Dieter Voigt, and President, Severin Weiss issued a joint statement ahead of the competition: “We are extremely pleased to welcome the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Sub Regional Qualifier B. It is a great honour for us to host this significant tournament in the cities of Krefeld, Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen. The qualifier is a crucial step on the road to the World Cup and a testament to the growing interest and commitment to cricket in Europe.
“Organizing such a tournament is no easy task and would not have been possible without the support of numerous volunteers. Our special thanks, therefore, go to the many volunteers who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that this tournament runs smoothly.
“We would also like to thank the ICC for their support and trust in allowing us to host this significant event here in Germany and our sponsors, who with their dedication guarantee the economic foundation of this tournament,” they concluded.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 will feature 20 teams, with 12 automatic qualifiers and eight teams that qualify through regional pathway events.
The automatic qualifiers comprise Super 8 qualifying teams at the recently concluded 2024 edition: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, South Africa, West Indies and USA.
Sri Lanka also qualify automatically as hosts with Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan completing the lineup by virtue of being the three highest-ranked teams on the ICC Men’s T20I rankings table on 30 June.
The Europe Sub Regional Qualifier B is one of three events taking place in the region this year on the pathway through to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The winning team in Germany will progress to the Europe Qualifier where they will meet Scotland, Netherlands, Italy and the winner of Sub Regional Qualifier C later in the summer.
Sub Regional Qualifiers will be held across other ICC regions later in 2024, with their respective regional finals also being held in 2025.
Fixtures (all times are in CEST, local time):
Sunday 7 July
Jersey v Serbia, Krefeld Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Germany v Gibraltar, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Belgium v Switzerland, Krefeld Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Norway v Sweden, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Monday 8 July
Slovenia v Norway, Krefeld Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Croatia v Belgium, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Sweden v Germany, Krefeld Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Switzerland v Jersey, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Wednesday 10 July
Jersey v Belgium, Krefeld Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Germany v Norway, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Serbia v Croatia, Krefeld Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Gibraltar v Slovenia, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Thursday 11 July
Gibraltar v Sweden, Krefeld Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Serbia v Switzerland, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Slovenia v Germany, Krefeld Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Croatia v Jersey, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Saturday 13 July
Belgium v Serbia, Krefeld Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Norway v Gibraltar, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
Switzerland v Croatia, Krefeld Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Sweden v Slovenia, Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
Sunday 14 July
A2 v B2 (3rd place playoff), Krefeld Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
A4 v B4 (7th place playoff), Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (10h30 start)
A1 v B1 (Final), Krefeld Cricket Ground (15h30 start)
A3 v B3 (5th place playoff), Gelsenkirchen Cricket Ground (15h30 start)