2026 Women’s T20 World Cup to be held in England and Wales

The International Cricket Council has announced that England and Wales will host the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup. For the first time since the initial tournament in 2009, England will host the competition.

The tournament will take place in June, with the final teams increased from 10 to 12 nations, resulting in a total of 33 matchups.

This will be the first time the event has been hosted on British soil since the first edition in 2009, when the hosts won by defeating New Zealand in the final at Lord’s. It comes after England and Wales hosted the 50-over Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2017, when Heather Knight’s team won as well. ECB interim chief executive officer Clare Connor hopes to build on that history with the T20 competition.

Clare Connor, interim chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, stated, “We are incredibly thrilled to have been selected to host the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.”

“We saw back in 2017 how hosting the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup captured people’s imagination and I’ll never forget watching Heather Knight lift the trophy on that magical day at a sold-out Lord’s.”

The ICC also revealed Lord’s will host the final of the men’s World Test Championship in both 2023 and 2025, and Bangladesh will host a major ICC women’s event for the first time in 2024, when the T20 World Cup moves there following next year’s postponed edition in South Africa.Following that, India will host the 50-over Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2025, and Sri Lanka will host the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy, a T20 competition, in February 2026.

The six-team Champions Trophy will be followed in June of the following year by the Women’s T20 World Cup in England, which will have 12 participating teams instead of the current ten and will feature 33 matches.

“This is a major year for women’s cricket in our nation, with England women playing in the Commonwealth Games for the first time, the second year of The Hundred immediately following, and then England and India meeting at Lord’s as part of our white ball series,” said Martin Darlow, interim head of the ECB.

“The women’s game is rapidly expanding, and hosting the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2026 will provide a significant boost to our aim to make cricket a gender-balanced sport. This is a fantastic opportunity.”

The Hundred, which features men’s and women’s contests on an equal platform, debuted last year and has greatly improved the prominence of women’s cricket, with record numbers watching women’s cricket on TV and in stadiums.
There are currently over 1,000 clubs that provide women and girls the opportunity to participate, and the number of women’s and girls’ teams has increased by 33% since 2019.

“A decade on from London 2012, and ahead of women’s T20 cricket starting at the Commonwealth Games this weekend, I’m happy that the ICC has recognised the UK’s position as a host of major sports events and advocate for women’s sport,” Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said.

“We are one of the leading nations in the expansion of women’s cricket, thanks to the inspirational performances of Heather Knight’s squad, our grassroots programmes, great attendance statistics at international and domestic matches, and increased visibility on television and social media.”