Pakistan set to earn direct qualification for ICC T20 World Cup 2026; Here's how

As soon as Pakistan were knocked out of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024, their former bowler Shoaib Akhtar said that the Men in Green would have to play the Qualifiers to seal their spot in the next edition of the T20 World Cup.

Akhtar was definitely not the only one to say that Pakistan would have to play the qualifiers but definitely one of the most prominent figures to say that. The top eight teams of the ongoing T20 World Cup or the teams that would qualify for the Super 8s would gain automatic qualification in the next T20 World Cup, scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in 2026.

Unsurprisingly, many including some former Pakistan cricketers believed that Pakistan would have to play the qualifiers for a place in the next World Cup. However, the Men in Green look set to book their place without taking the qualifier route.

Here's how Pakistan can directly qualify for T20 World Cup 2026:

As per the rules, 12 of the 20 teams will gain automatic qualification for the 2026 T20 World Cup while the remaining 8 teams will be decided through qualifiers, reported Cricbuzz. Two of those 12 teams are India and Sri Lanka who will be qualifying as the co-hosts.

Additionally, India have also made it to the Super 8s while Sri Lanka have not. As a result, seven more teams will be making it to the next T20 World Cup on the basis of their performance in the ongoing tournament.

It takes the total number of teams to 9. The remaining 3 teams will be selected on the basis of ICC T20Is rankings. The three highest-ranked teams as per the ICC Men's T20I rankings table on 30th June 2024 will also gain automatic qualification for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

At present, Pakistan are in the seventh spot and look set to make it to the next World Cup without playing the qualifier. New Zealand, who missed out on the Super 8s as well, are also looking set to gain an automatic qualification as they are at the sixth spot in the ICC rankings.

They are well ahead of the other teams in contention such as Bangladesh (9th with 226 points), Ireland (11th with 195 points), Scotland (12th with 192 points), Zimbabwe (13th with 192 points), Namibia (14th with 189 points), Netherlands (15th with 185 points), UAE (16th with 176 points), Nepal (18th with 170 points), Oman (19th with 163 points), PNG (20th with 145 points), Uganda (21st with 135 points), Hong Kong (22nd with 135 points) and Canada (23rd with 129 points).