Men’s T20 World Cup 2026: UAE denies Japan and secures last place in the tournament

The United Arab Emirates denied Japan and secured the final spot in next year’s Men’s T20 World Cup with an eight-wicket win in the qualifiers in Oman.

Japan could have reached their first major tournament with a win, but the UAE halted them 116-9 and then chased down their target in 12.1 overs.

This means that the UAE joins Oman and Nepal in qualifying from the Asia and East Asia and Pacific qualifiers for the World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka in February and March next year.

In addition to the hosts receiving automatic points, England, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, the United States and the West Indies qualified by virtue of reaching the Super 8 stage of the 2024 edition held in the United States and the West Indies.

Ireland, Pakistan and New Zealand qualified through the world rankings while Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Namibia and Zimbabwe came through their regional qualifying tournaments.

The tournament schedule is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Japan beat Kuwait and Samoa earlier in the qualifiers meaning they would have qualified had they beaten the United Arab Emirates and overturned their net run rate deficit.

However, they slumped to 58-8, as spinner Haider Ali took 3-20, only going back to their total thanks to a 45 not out from Wataru Miyauchi.

Alishan Sharafu and Mohammad Wasim scored 70 for the first wicket of the chase, and despite the pair trailing at 46 and 42 respectively, UAE, who played in the 2014 and 2022 T20 World Cups, cruised to victory with ease.