Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier

ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier
Administrator	International Cricket Council
Format	Twenty20 International
First edition	2008 Ireland
Latest edition	2022 Oman; Zimbabwe; ;
Tournament format	Round-robin Group Stage and Knockout
Current champion	United Arab Emirates (1 title) (A); Zimbabwe (1 title) (B);
Most runs	Mohammad Shahzad (895)
Most wickets	Mudassar Bukhari (39)

The ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier (previously the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier) was a Twenty20 International tournament run under the auspices of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament served as the final qualifying event for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

The first edition was held in 2008, with only six teams. This was increased to eight teams for the 2010 tournament and to 16 teams for the 2012 and 2013 editions, but reduced to 14 for the 2015 and 2019 editions. For the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, the ICC opted to conduct two separate qualifiers at different venues, Group A and Group B, of eight teams each.

The number of teams qualifying to the World Cup from the Qualifier has varied based on the tournament model. Ireland and the Netherlands have each won the Qualifier on three occasions. Ireland has the unique distinction of appearing in every tournament, and qualifying for the T20 World Cup from every tournament; as of 2022, Ireland has qualified to the World Cup from the Qualifier on a record seven occasions, while the Netherlands and Afghanistan have qualified four times, Scotland three times, and Hong Kong and Oman twice. Ireland, the Netherlands and Canada are the only teams who have participated in every edition of the Qualifier.

History

2008 Qualifiers

The first ever Twenty20 World Cup Qualifier was played as qualification for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and took place between 2 August and 5 August 2008 in Stormont, Belfast in Northern Ireland. The top three^[1] going through to the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. The six competing teams were:

The competition was won by Ireland and the Netherlands, who shared the trophy after rain forced the final to be abandoned without a ball bowled. Both teams qualified for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 finals in England. After the withdrawal of Zimbabwe from the competition, the two finalists were joined by third-placed Scotland.

2010 Qualifiers

The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played from February 9–13, 2010^[2] in the United Arab Emirates. It was expanded to eight teams, as Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States entered the tournament for the first time, whereas Bermuda did not enter.

The eight competing teams were:^[3]

Afghanistan defeated Ireland in the final to win the championship, and both teams progressed to play in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, the international championship of Twenty20 cricket in the West Indies.

2012 Qualifiers

The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played in early 2012. It was an expanded version comprising ten qualifiers from regional Twenty20 tournaments in addition to the six ODI/Twenty20 status countries. A total of 81 countries competed for the ten spots available in the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier. The sixteen teams which contested the final qualifying competition were:

Ireland defeated Afghanistan in the final to win the championship, and again both teams progressed to play in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20.

2013 Qualifiers

The 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played in November 2013. It continued to use a 16-team format, with ten qualifiers from regional Twenty20 tournaments plus the top six finishers of the previous competition. Ireland and Afghanistan (by finishing top of their groups), with Nepal and UAE (by winning first runners up knock out matches) and the Netherlands and Hong Kong (5th and 6th place) qualified for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. The competing countries were:

The top six teams: Ireland, Afghanistan, Netherlands and making their World Twenty20 debut the UAE, Nepal and Hong Kong progressed to the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

2015 Qualifiers

The 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played in July 2015 and co-hosted by two countries for the first time, Ireland and Scotland. Both the final and the third-place playoff were abandoned due to rain; Scotland and the Netherlands shared the title, while Ireland were ranked third over Hong Kong due to a superior performance in the group stage. The number of teams at the tournament was reduced to 14, with the African Cricket Association and ICC Americas regional bodies each losing a spot and the ACC gaining one from the European Cricket Council:

The top six teams Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Oman who made their debut in the tournament all progressed to the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

2019 Qualifiers

The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was played in October–November 2019 in the UAE.

2022 Qualifiers

The 2022 Men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers was played in February and July 2022 in Oman and Zimbabwe respectively.

The top two teams from each group qualified for 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

They were United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Zimbabwe, and Netherlands.

The 2022 Qualifiers were the last Global Qualifiers before the ICC switched to a regional qualifying model for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Group A

Group B

Winners

The two associate qualifiers for the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20 were decided in the 2007 World Cricket League Division One tournament. Kenya and Scotland qualified.

Year		Host(s)	Final venue	Final
Year		Host(s)	Final venue	Winner	Result	Runner-up
2008		Ireland	Belfast	Ireland Netherlands	Abandoned – title shared scorecard
2010		UAE	Dubai	Afghanistan 147/2 (17.3 overs)	Afghanistan won by 8 wickets scorecard	Ireland 142/8 (20 overs)
2012		UAE	Dubai	Ireland 156/5 (18.5 overs)	Ireland won by 5 wickets scorecard	Afghanistan 152/7 (20 overs)
2013		UAE	Abu Dhabi	Ireland 225/7 (20 overs)	Ireland won by 68 runs scorecard	Afghanistan 157 (18.5 overs)
2015		Ireland Scotland	Dublin	Netherlands Scotland	Abandoned – title shared scorecard
2019		UAE	Dubai	Netherlands 134/3 (19 overs)	Netherlands won by 7 Wickets scorecard	Papua New Guinea 128/8 (20 overs)
2022	A	Oman	Muscat	United Arab Emirates 160/3 (18.4 overs)	UAE won by 7 wickets Scorecard	Ireland 159 (20 overs)
2022	B	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	Zimbabwe 132 (19.3 overs)	Zimbabwe won by 37 runs Scorecard	Netherlands 95 (18.2 overs)

Performance by team

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
— Hosts
Teams that qualified for the Men's T20 World Cup are underlined.
Q – Qualified
— – Did not participate or failed to qualify
§ – Team qualified for tournament, but withdrew or disqualified later
× – Did not participate as already qualified for World Cup via another method
• – Played in the other group (2022 edition only)

Team	2008 (6)	2010 (8)	2012 (16)	2013 (16)	2015 (14)	2019 (14)	2022 (16)		Total
Team	2008 (6)	2010 (8)	2012 (16)	2013 (16)	2015 (14)	2019 (14)	A (8)	B (8)	Total
Africa
Kenya	4th	5th	9th	11th	9th	11th	—		6
Namibia	—	—	3rd	10th	7th	4th	×		4
Nigeria	—	—	—	—	—	14th	—		1
Uganda	—	—	14th	13th	—	—	•	5th	3
Zimbabwe	×	×	×	×	×	§	•	1st	1
Americas
Bermuda	6th	—	13th	14th	—	13th	—		4
Canada	5th	8th	6th	12th	14th	9th	5th	•	7
United States	—	6th	12th	15th	10th	—	•	4th	5
Asia
Afghanistan	—	1st	2nd	2nd	5th	×	×		4
Bahrain	—	—	—	—	—	—	6th	•	1
Hong Kong	—	—	11th	6th	4th	8th	•	6th	5
Nepal	—	—	7th	3rd	12th	—	3rd	•	4
Oman	—	—	15th	—	6th	6th	4th	•	4
Singapore	—	—	—	—	—	12th	•	8th	2
United Arab Emirates	—	3rd	—	4th	13th	7th	1st	•	5
East Asia - Pacific
Papua New Guinea	—	—	8th	8th	8th	2nd	•	3rd	5
Philippines	—	—	—	—	—	—	8th	•	1
Europe
Denmark	—	—	16th	16th	—	—	—		2
Germany	—	—	—	—	—	—	7th	•	1
Ireland	1st	2nd	1st	1st	3rd	3rd	2nd	•	7
Italy	—	—	10th	9th	—	—	—		2
Jersey	—	—	—	—	11th	10th	•	7th	3
Netherlands	1st	4th	4th	5th	1st	1st	•	2nd	7
Scotland	3rd	7th	5th	7th	1st	5th	×		6