How to qualify in Cricket
How cricket teams qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics
India's women have qualified for Los Angeles 2028. India's men have not yet, though their route is clear.
Cricket returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1900, as six-team men's and women's T20 tournaments. Each team has 15 players.
The places go like this, in each tournament:
- Four continental places. The best team from each of Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
- Women: decided by the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup. Australia, Great Britain (through England), India and South Africa finished as the top teams from their continents and have qualified.
- Men: decided by the ICC men's T20I team ranking on 31 December 2026.
- The host. The United States, if its team reaches the top 15 of the ICC T20I ranking at any point between 30 June and 31 December 2026. If it does not, the place goes to the best-ranked team not yet qualified, from any continent.
- The qualifier. The last place goes to the winner of an eight-team ICC Olympics Qualifier in 2027.
The West Indies cannot play at the Olympics, because they are a team of many Caribbean countries and not one Olympic Committee. A West Indian country can still qualify on its own through a special Caribbean qualifier.
The places
| Men | Women | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams through qualification | 5 (75 players) | 5 (75 players) | 10 (150) |
| Host country | 1 (15 players) | 1 (15 players) | 2 (30) |
| Total | 6 (90 players) | 6 (90 players) | 12 (180) |
One team per country in each tournament; places go to the National Olympic Committee (NOC). Players must be 15 or older on the squad submission date or on the date of the first match.
Great Britain plays at the Olympics, but in the rankings only England counts for it. Only the rankings of teams with a National Olympic Committee count.
Men: four places by the ranking
The four highest-ranked eligible teams, one from each continent, in the ICC Men's T20I Team Ranking when the window closes on 31 December 2026. The ICC names the continents as Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
Women: four places from the World Cup
The highest-placed eligible team from each of Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 (12 June to 6 July 2026). The ICC confirmed them on 29 June 2026:
| Continent | Qualified |
|---|---|
| Oceania | Australia |
| Europe | Great Britain (through England) |
| Asia | India |
| Africa | South Africa |
India qualified as Asia's top team even though, as the ICC put it, their World Cup "ended earlier than hoped".
The host
The United States qualifies in each tournament if its team appears in the top 15 of the relevant ICC T20I team ranking at any time between 30 June and 31 December 2026. It must confirm the place within two weeks of the end of that window.
If the US does not qualify:
- men: the place goes to the next-highest-ranked team from any continent not yet qualified on 31 December 2026;
- women: the place goes to the highest-ranked team from any continent not yet qualified on 1 March 2027.
The ICC Olympics Qualifier: one place each
Eight teams in each tournament, held in 2027 (dates and host to be announced). They are the next eight highest-ranked eligible teams not yet qualified in the T20I ranking: the men's on 31 December 2026, the women's on 1 March 2027. There is no limit on how many come from one continent. The winner takes the last place.
The West Indies. If the West Indies are among those eight, the ICC holds a Caribbean qualifier to decide which country takes the place in the Olympics Qualifier. The countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the US Virgin Islands.
Places turned down
A place that is declined, or not confirmed within two weeks, goes to the next eligible team in the same stage: in the ranking stage, the next-ranked team from that continent; at the qualifier, the next-placed team from anywhere. An unused host place goes to the next-ranked team from any continent. The ICC reallocates all unused places by 26 May 2028.
Dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 12 June to 6 July 2026 | Women's T20 World Cup (four women's places; confirmed 29 June) |
| 30 June 2026 | Window opens for the US to reach the top 15 |
| 31 December 2026 | Men's ranking window closes: four men's places and the men's qualifier field; the US window closes |
| 1 March 2027 | Women's ranking window closes: the women's qualifier field |
| 2027 (to be confirmed) | ICC Olympics Qualifiers, men and women |
| Two weeks after each notice | NOCs confirm their places |
| 26 May 2028 | ICC reallocates unused places |
| 26 June 2028 | Entries deadline for the Games |
| 12 to 29 July 2028 | Cricket at LA28, at a purpose-built ground in Pomona |
Where to follow it
The ICC publishes the T20I team rankings and qualification news on icc-cricket.com. How the ranking itself works is on the cricket ranking page.