The United States Of America (USA) have been garnering a lot of praise and appreciation from the cricketing fraternity after officially securing a berth in the Super 8 stage following their T20 World Cup 2024 Group A match against Ireland was washed out due to rain in Florida on Friday, June 14.
The USA were written off from the start of the tournament as many picked India and Pakistan as the favourites from Group A to proceed beyond the group stage. However, the co-hosts turned out to be surprising package.
Monank Patel-led side kicked off their campaign with a win over Canada. Nonetheless, the USA's biggest win came against Pakistan, where they pulled off a biggest upset by defeating the Men in Green in the Super Over, thanks to Saurabh Netravalkar's bowling brilliance.
The USA would have hoped 3 on 3 with a win over India, but they were handed the first defeat of the tournament by the Men in Blue in New York.
Just needing a win or wash out was enough for USA to make it to the Super 8 stage. The latter result against Ireland made the co-hosts the sixth team after South Africa, Australia, India, West Indies, Afghanistan to qualify for the second round in the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup 2024.
The USA are placed in Group B alongside the co-hosts West Indies and South Africa. The team that will finish on the top of Group B will join them.
USA secure qualification for 2026 T20 World Cup 2024
Qualifying for the Super 8 of the T20 World Cup 2024 is a significant achievement for the USA in their cricketing history. However, along with the Super 8 qualification, the United States of America (USA) have officially qualified to play 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka.
As per the 2026 T20 World Cup criteria, the top seven teams (excluding hosts India) that qualify for the Super 8 stage in the ongoing edition of the tournament will earn automatic qualification for the next edition of this showpiece event in India and Sri Lanka in Febraury 2026.
Therefore, the USA have automatically qualified to play the 2026 T20 World Cup as they are among the top eight teams that have secured their berth in the Super 8 of the ongoing tournament.
A total of 20 teams will play in the 2026 T20 World Cup. With 8 teams earning automatic qualification for the tournament, while the remaining 12 will be determined based on their Men's T20I rankings and through regional qualifiers.
