The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 has commenced on Friday in UAE. The tournament has started exactly a year before the main tournament which is scheduled to begin in Australia in October 2020.

Find out all you need to know about the Qualifier.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 Teams: 14

As many as 14 teams are participating in the Qualifier and these teams have been split into two groups- Group A and Group B.

Group A: Scotland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Singapore, Kenya and Bermuda.

Group B: UAE, Ireland, Oman, Hong Kong, Canada, Jersey and Nigeria.

How many teams qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020?

Six teams of the 14 participating teams qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia next year.

The six teams which will be selected from this tournament will join Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the first round of the T20 World Cup. A total of eight teams then will be divided into two groups of four teams each.

The top two teams from each of these two groups will then play along with other teams Australia, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, England, South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan in the Super 12 stage of the World Cup.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 Schedule

All matches will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai with the final match scheduled to be played in Dubai.

All timings have been mentioned in local time.

Note– Indian Standard time (IST) is 90 minutes ahead of the local UAE time.

18 October: Scotland v Singapore (10h00), Netherlands vs Kenya (14h10) at ICC Academy 1; Hong Kong v Ireland (14h10), Oman v UAE (19h30) at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Hong Kong v Ireland, Oman v UAE at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

19 October: PNG v Bermuda (10h00), Netherlands v Namibia (14h10) at ICC Academy 1; Scotland v Kenya (14h10) at ICC Academy 2; Jersey v Nigeria (14h10), Ireland v UAE (19h30) at Zayed Cricket Stadium.

20 October: PNG v Namibia (10h00), Bermuda v Singapore (14h10) at ICC Academy 2; Hong Kong v Oman (14h10) at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Canada v Jersey (10h00) at ADC 1.

21 October: Scotland v PNG (10h00), Kenya v Bermuda (14h10) at ICC Academy 1; Hong Kong v UAE (14h10), Canada v Nigeria (19h30) at Zayed Cricket Stadium; Ireland v Oman (14h10) at ADC 1.

22 October: Scotland v Namibia (10h00), Singapore v Netherlands (14h10) at ICC Academy 1; UAE v Jersey (14h10) at ADC 1.

23 October: Namibia v Bermuda (10h00), Singapore v Kenya (14h10) at ICC Academy 2; Ireland v Canada (14h10), Hong Kong v Jersey (19h30) at Zayed Cricket Stadium; Oman v Nigeria (10h00) at ADC1.

24 October: Scotland v Bermuda (19h30) at Dubai International Stadium; Netherlands v PNG (10h00) at ICC Academy1; UAE v Nigeria (10h00), Hong Kong v Canada (14h10) at ADC 1.

25 October: PNG v Singapore (10h00), Namibia v Kenya (14h10) at Dubai International Stadium; Oman v Canada (19h30) at Zayed Cricket Stadium; Ireland v Jersey (10h00) at ADC1.

26 October: Netherlands v Bermuda (14h10), Namibia v Singapore (19h30) at Dubai International Stadium; Ireland v Nigeria (10h00) at Zayed Cricket Stadium.

27 October: PNG v Kenya (10h00), Scotland v Netherlands (14h10) at Dubai International Stadium; Oman v Jersey (14h10), UAE v Canada (19h30) at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Hong Kong v Nigeria (10h00) at ADC 1.

29 October: Play-off 1 – A2 v B3 (14h10); Play-off 2 – A3 v B2 (19h30) at Dubai International Stadium.

30 October: Play-off 3 – A4 v Loser of Play-off 1 (14h10); Play-off 4 – B4 v Loser of Play-off 2 (19h30) at Dubai International Stadium.

31 October: Play-off for fifth and sixth places – Winner of Play-off 3 v Winner of Play-off 4, ICC Academy 1

1 November: Semifinal 1 – B1 v Winner of Play-off 1 (14h10), Semifinal 2 – A1 v Winner of Play-off 2 (19h30) at Dubai International Stadium.

2 November: Third place Play-off – B1 v Winner of Play-off 1 (14h10); Final (19h30) at Dubai International Stadium.

Format:

All teams play each other once in the group stages of the qualifying tournament. The team that finish the group stage at the top of the points tally from both the groups qualify for the main tournament and enter the semis of the qualifier tournament.

The teams that finish second and third in the group stage from both the groups play Playoffs 1 and 2. The winners of these games qualify for the T20 World Cup and join the other two teams to make the semi-finals.

The losers of the playoffs play the fourth-ranked team in the group stage in Qualifying Play-Offs 3 and 4. The winners of these matches qualify for the T20 World Cup.

After the two-week-long qualifying tournament, six top-ranked teams will qualify for the next year’s marquee event to be held across Australia in November.