The Hague (Netherlands), July 11 (IANS) Italy have scripted history by securing a maiden berth in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, despite their nine-wicket loss to the Netherlands in the final match of the European Qualifiers on Friday at the Sportpark Westvliet, The Hague.

This marks the first time the Italian men’s cricket team will feature at a senior ICC world event—an unprecedented achievement in the nation’s cricketing journey.

The breakthrough came during the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier 2025, where Italy stunned more established sides with their clinical performances. Notably, they notched up convincing wins over Guernsey and a major scalp in Scotland, one of Europe’s strongest associate teams. With those victories, Italy became the 13th team to confirm qualification for the 2026 tournament.

Despite Jersey pulling off a shock win over Scotland earlier in the day, it was Italy’s superior net run-rate that proved decisive. Ranked 32nd in the world, Italy finished level on five points with Jersey but edged ahead to

The Netherlands followed soon after to secure their own qualification, leaving just six spots up for grabs. Those remaining berths will be decided through the upcoming regional qualifiers. Two spots will be filled by teams from the Africa region, one from the Americas, and three from the Asia/East Asia-Pacific region.

The 2026 edition will be the biggest T20 World Cup yet, featuring 20 teams—bringing together the best of the full members and emerging forces from associate cricket. Hosts India and Sri Lanka gained automatic entry, as did Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the West Indies, and the United States, by virtue of reaching the Super Eight stage in the previous edition.

In addition, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Ireland secured automatic qualification based on their ICC T20I rankings at the cut-off point.

–IANS

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