Dubai, October 23,2026: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has outlined the schedule for several major international tournaments between the 2027 and 2031 ODI World Cups, including the men’s and women’s qualifying events for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and the 2029 World Test Championship (WTC) final.
The Olympic qualifiers are scheduled for January and February 2028, while the WTC final will be held in England from June 8 to 12, 2029.
The dates were included in a global events calendar shared with member boards following the ICC meetings in Dubai this month. The calendar currently features 12 men’s, seven women’s and five Under-19 events, including qualification tournaments, although some details remain unconfirmed.
While the ICC had confirmed several major events in 2021, the latest calendar provides greater clarity on the international cricket schedule for the coming years.
The Olympic qualifiers were initially scheduled for 2027 but have been moved to early 2028, less than six months before the Los Angeles Games. Cricket will return to the Olympics at LA28 for the first time since 1900.
The ICC has also revised the qualification criteria for host nation the United States in the women’s Olympic competition.
Australia, India, South Africa and Great Britain have already secured qualification for the women’s event as the highest-ranked eligible teams from their respective continents, based on their performances at the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
For the men’s competition, the highest-ranked eligible teams from Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania, according to the ICC Men’s T20I rankings as of December 31, 2026, will secure direct qualification.
The United States, as hosts, are eligible for automatic entry into both competitions, provided their respective teams meet the ICC’s ranking requirements.
Under the criteria announced in June, both US teams must have ranked among the top 15 in the relevant T20I rankings at some point during the qualification period from June 30 to December 31, 2026.
The USA men’s team, currently ranked 13th, are on course to secure direct qualification. However, the women’s team, ranked 19th, risk missing out under the revised criteria.
The ICC had previously stated that if the USA women failed to meet the host-nation ranking requirement, an additional automatic qualification place would go to the highest-ranked non-qualified team in the women’s T20I rankings as of March 1, 2027.
However, the governing body has now revised the process. If the USA women fail to meet the ranking criteria by December 31, 2026, the vacant place will instead be allocated based on the standings at the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy, scheduled to take place in India in February 2027.
The ICC has yet to announce the venues for the men’s and women’s Olympic qualifying tournaments, each of which will feature eight teams. The line-ups will comprise the seven highest-ranked eligible teams outside the automatic qualifiers and the winner of the Caribbean regional qualifier.
Meanwhile, the men’s and women’s T20 World Cups in 2028 will take place in consecutive windows, with just 11 days between the two tournaments.
The 12-team Women’s T20 World Cup will run from September 7 to October 1, 2028, while the 20-team Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled for October 12 to November 12. Pakistan will host the women’s tournament, while Australia and New Zealand will jointly stage the men’s event.
The ICC has also shifted the window for the 2030 Men’s T20 World Cup from June to July and August. England, Ireland and Scotland were previously awarded hosting rights for the 20-team tournament.
Further details regarding venues and qualification arrangements for several events are expected to be confirmed by the ICC in due course.
