The Women’s T20 World Cup is set to have 16 teams in contention from the 2030 edition, the International Cricket Council announced on Monday following the conclusion of its annual conference in Colombo.
This is a massive leap from the upcoming 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, which will have only ten teams in fray.
“The ICC, with its long-term strategic commitment to equity across the men’s and women’s game also confirmed the expansion of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2030 from 12 to 16 teams,” a release from the International Cricket Council read.
The recently concluded 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which India had won, saw a total of 20 teams in action. It was the largest ever cricket World Cup, having expanded from 16 teams in the previous edition back in 2022.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was held for the first time back in 2009 with just eight teams. The tournament was expanded to a ten-team affair in 2016 and is scheduled to grow to 12 teams in 2026.
The International Cricket Council also announced that the qualification cut-off for the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup will be October 31, 2024.
Besides, the Chief Executives’ Committee of the world body also confirmed the allocation of eight regional qualifying spots for the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
With this new structure, two teams each will qualify to the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup from Africa and Europe, one will qualify from Americas, and a total of three combined from Asia and East Asia Pacific regional final.
