The UAE men’s cricket team have secured their place at the 2026 FIFA T20 World Cup on Thursday 16 October as the 20-team field is finally set. The United Arab Emirates joins Nepal and Omanwho secured their place in next year’s tournament with an emphatic victory over Japan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Asia/East Asia-Pacific (EAP) qualifier in Oman.
The UAE’s win also eliminated Japan, Qatar and Samoa from contention as all three teams had a mathematical chance of making it to the tournament, which will be played in India and Sri Lanka. In the match played on Thursday, Japan were restricted to 116 for nine after being bowled into bat by the UAE. It was only Wataru Miyauchi, who came in to bat at No.9, who made a significant contribution for the willowy Japanese side as he scored an unbeaten 45 off 32 balls.
The only other scores from Japan came in the form of Esam Rahman (23), Abhishek Anand (10) at the top of the order and Abdul Samad (11 not out) at 11th. UAE’s Haider Ali (three for 20) and Muhammad Irfan (fairly two for 24) made most of their orders look easy and ensured Japan’s batting.
Openers Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem did not disappoint and started the chase with an opening stand of 70 runs. Declan Suzuki dismissed Waseem for 42 at the start of the eighth over. Sharafu scored 46 before reaching the 11th over, but most of the work was already done.
Mayank Kumar and Rahul Chopra then guided their team to victory with 47 balls to spare. This is the first time since 2022 that the UAE has qualified for the T20 World Cup and only the third time in history.
ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Qualified Teams
India (tournament host), Sri Lanka (tournament host), Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, England, Ireland, Italy, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, USA, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
– The end
Published on:
October 16, 2025
