Cliff Notes – India and Australia in Group 1, England and NZ in Group 2
- The 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup will feature 12 teams divided into two groups, with Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, and two qualifiers in Group 1, and England, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and two qualifiers in Group 2.
- Matches will be held across seven venues in England, with the semi-finals at The Oval and the final at Lord’s, spanning from June 12 to July 5.
- The tournament will see an increase from 10 to 12 teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals on June 30 and July 2.
Women’s T20 World Cup: India and Australia in Group 1, England and NZ in Group 2
The 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled from June 12 to July 5, will have Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan and two qualifiers in Group 1, while Group 2 includes hosts England, defending champions New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and two more qualifiers. The semi-finals will be played at The Oval, while the final is scheduled at Lord’s.
The 33-match tournament will take place across seven venues in England over 24 days. The tournament will have 12 teams, up from 10 in the previous edition in 2024. Apart from The Oval and Lord’s, matches will also be held at Old Trafford, Headingley, Southampton, Bristol and Edgbaston and will have three different start times: 10.30am, 2.30pm and 6.30pm local.
The opening match will be played between England and Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on June 12. In a rematch of last edition’s semi-final, New Zealand begin their title defence against West Indies in Southampton on June 13 while Australia start their campaign against 2024 finalists South Africa on the same day in Manchester. India face Pakistan at Edgbaston on June 14.
Other key Group 1 fixtures for India are against South Africa (June 21) in Manchester and Australia (June 28) at Lord’s. Pakistan take on South Africa (June 17) at Edgbaston and Australia (June 23) at Headingley. The Australia vs India fixture will be the final group-stage match of the competition.
In Group 2, England will play matches across five venues, the most of any team. They take on West Indies (June 24) at Lord’s and New Zealand (June 27) at The Oval. Sri Lanka face New Zealand (June 16) in Southampton and West Indies (June 21) in Bristol.
The top two teams from each group will make the semi-finals to be held on June 30 and July 2. The winners will meet for the title clash at Lord’s on July 5.
Hosts England and the top five teams from the 2024 edition (Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies) qualified automatically for the edition. Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who were the two next highest-ranked teams on the ICC Women’s T20I rankings table on October 21 that year, made the cut too.
The remaining four teams will come from the global qualifiers scheduled for early 2026. Bangladesh, Scotland, USA, Nepal and Thailand have already qualified for that ten-team competition. The Europe, Africa and East Asia-Pacific qualifiers are yet to be completed.
