The race to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2026 has entered the last stage. With 17 spots sealed, the focus will shift to the T20 World Cup Asia & East-Asia Pacific (EAP) Qualifier scheduled in October 2025. This will be a high-intense tournament, with three spots at stake.
So, when and where does the T20 World Cup Asia-EAP Qualifier 2025 start?
The qualification tournament starts on October 8 in Oman’s Al Amerat. Hosts Oman will square off against Samoa in the opening fixture at 10 AM local time (11:30 AM IST).
Alright, how many teams will play?
Nine teams will feature in the Asia & EAP Qualifier. This is the first time teams from both regions will compete in a single qualifier.
Here are the participating teams:
- Nepal
- Oman
- Papua New Guinea
- Samoa
- Japan
- Kuwait
- Malaysia
- Qatar
- UAE
How did the teams qualify?
Nepal, Oman, and Papua New Guinea gained direct entry, thanks to their appearance in the previous T20 World Cup edition.
Japan and Samoa made it through the EAP sub-regional qualifiers. Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, and the UAE qualified through the Asia sub-regional qualifiers.
Have teams been divided into groups?
Yep. Teams have been put into three groups of three. Group 1 features Malaysia, Qatar, and the UAE. Japan, Kuwait, and Nepal make up Group 2. And Group 3 clubs host Oman, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa.
T20 World Cup Asia & East-Asia Pacific Qualifier 2025 Groups
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | Japan | Oman |
| Qatar | Kuwait | Papua New Guinea |
| UAE | Nepal | Samoa |
Okay, what’s the format of the qualifier?
The qualifier will see two stages – group and Super Six. Teams will first play against their group opponents once, with the top two sides advancing to the Super Six round.
In Super Six, each team will face four sides from the other two groups, while they will carry the points won against the team from their own group.
That means a team from Group 1 will play against Group 2 and Group 3 teams once, with no encounter against their other Group 1 member.
The top three teams in the Super Six stage will lock their T20 World Cup spots. There’s no final.
Ongoing & Upcoming Series Schedule:
India’s Domestic Cricket Schedule 2025-26
Indian Men’s Cricket Team Schedule for 2025 Home Season
Indian Women’s Cricket Team 2025 Complete Schedule
Australia Schedule for 2025-26 Home Season
Ashes 2025-26 Complete Schedule
Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 2025: Schedule
New Zealand vs West Indies Series 2025: Schedule
New Zealand Schedule for 2025-26 Home Season
World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 Full Schedule
Pakistan vs South Africa 2025 Series: Schedule
Got it. Now tell me the complete schedule…
The Asia & EAP Qualifier 2025 will begin on October 8 and run until October 17. The 10-day affair will see 21 matches in total.
Nine of those matches are part of the group stage, which runs from October 8 to 10. There will be three games each day in the group stage.
The Super Six starts after a day’s break. Twelve matches will decide the three qualified teams for the main event.
T20 World Cup Asia & East-Asia Pacific Qualifier 2025 Schedule
| Date | Match | Venue | Time (Local / IST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8 | Oman vs Samoa | Al Amerat | 10:00 AM / 11:30 AM |
| Oct 8 | United Arab Emirates vs Qatar | Al Amerat | 2:30 PM / 04:00 PM |
| Oct 8 | Nepal vs Kuwait | Al Amerat | 7:00 PM / 08:30 PM |
| Oct 9 | Malaysia vs Qatar | Al Amerat | 10:00 AM / 11:30 AM |
| Oct 9 | Kuwait vs Japan | Al Amerat | 2:30 PM / 04:00 PM |
| Oct 9 | Papua New Guinea vs Samoa | Al Amerat | 7:00 PM / 08:30 PM |
| Oct 10 | United Arab Emirates vs Malaysia | Al Amerat | 10:00 AM / 11:30 AM |
| Oct 10 | Nepal vs Japan | Al Amerat | 2:30 PM / 04:00 PM |
| Oct 10 | Oman vs Papua New Guinea | Al Amerat | 7:00 PM / 08:30 PM |
| Oct 12 | Super Six – Match 1 (G3 Q1 v G1 Q2) | Al Amerat | 10:00 AM / 11:30 AM |
| Oct 12 | Super Six – Match 2 (G1 Q1 v G2 Q1) | Al Amerat | 2:30 PM / 04:00 PM |
| Oct 12 | Super Six – Match 3 (G3 Q2 v G2 Q2) | Al Amerat | 7:00 PM / 08:30 PM |
| Oct 13 | Super Six – Match 4 (G3 Q1 v G1 Q1) | Al Amerat | 2:30 PM / 04:00 PM |
| Oct 13 | Super Six – Match 5 (G2 Q1 v G1 Q2) | Al Amerat | 7:00 PM / 08:30 PM |
| Oct 15 | Super Six – Match 6 (G2 Q2 v G1 Q2) | Al Amerat | 10:00 AM / 11:30 AM |
| Oct 15 | Super Six – Match 7 (G3 Q2 v G1 Q1) | Al Amerat | 2:30 PM / 04:00 PM |
| Oct 15 | Super Six – Match 8 (G3 Q1 v G2 Q1) | Al Amerat | 7:00 PM / 08:30 PM |
| Oct 16 | Super Six – Match 9 (G1 Q1 v G2 Q2) | Al Amerat | 2:30 PM / 04:00 PM |
| Oct 16 | Super Six – Match 10 (G1 Q2 v G3 Q2) | Al Amerat | 7:00 PM / 08:30 PM |
| Oct 17 | Super Six – Match 11 (G2 Q2 v G3 Q1) | Al Amerat | 10:00 AM / 11:30 AM |
| Oct 17 | Super Six – Match 12 (G3 Q2 v G2 Q1) | Al Amerat | 2:30 PM / 04:00 PM |
Have teams announced their squads?
Yep. All nine teams have assembled their squads for this important tournament.
Malaysia
Syed Aziz (c), Muhammad Amir, Ahmad Faiz, Ainool Hafizs, Khizar Hayat, Muhammad Haziq Aiman, Aslam Khan, Sharvin Muniandy, Pavandeep Singh, Virandeep Singh, Muhamad Syahadat, Arif Ullah, Vijay Unni, Muhammad Wafiq, Aqeel Wahid
Qatar
Mirza Mohammed Baig (c), Owais Ahmed, Zubair Ali, Saqlain Arshad, Muhammad Asim, Shariq Azam, Amir Farooq, Shahzaib Jamil, Ikramullah Khan, Daniel Louis, Imal Liyanage (wk), Muhammad Murad, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Tanveer, Arif Nasir Uddin
UAE
Muhammad Waseem (c), Haider Ali, Zahid Ali, Basil Hameed, Rahul Chopra (wk), Muhammad Farooq, Jonathan Figy, Muhammad Irfan, Harshit Kaushik, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Rohid, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Junaid Siddique, Simranjeet Singh
Japan
Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (c), Abdul Samad, Abhishek Anand, Charles Hinze, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Wataru Miyauchi (wk), Esam Rahman, Sabaorish Ravichandran, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Alexander Shirai-Patmore (wk), Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Ibrahim Takahashi, Makoto Taniyama, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake
Kuwait
Mohammed Aslam (c), Clinto Anto, Meet Bhavsar (wk), Anudeep Chenthamara, Muhammad Aqif Farooq, Shiraz Khan, Nimish Lathief, Usman Patel (wk), Yasin Patel, Naveenraj Rajendran, Ravija Sandaruwan, Mohamed Shafeeq, Bilal Tahir, Muhammad Umar. Ali Zaheer
Nepal
Rohit Paudel (c), Dipendra Singh Airee (vc), Mohammad Aadil Alam, Lokesh Bam, Kushal Bhurtel, Gulsan Jha, Sundeep Jora, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Kushal Malla, Lalit Rajbanshi, Aarif Sheikh, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Nandan Yadav
Oman
Jatinder Singh (c), Vinayak Shukla (vc), Shakeel Ahmed, Aryan Bisht, Shah Faisal, Zikria Islam, Aamir Kaleem, Nadeem Khan, Sufyan Mehmood, Hammad Mirza, Mohammed Nadeem, Jiten Ramanandi, Hassnain Shah, Samay Shrivastava, Hasnain Ul Wahab
Papua New Guinea
Assad Vala (c), Malcolm Aporo, Sese Bau, John Kariko, Ainui Loi, Michael Charlie, Kabua Morea, Alei Nao, Patrick Nou, Damien Ravu, Boio Ray, Doko Rupa, Lega Siaka, Gaudi Toka, Hila Vare (wk)
Samoa
Caleb Jasmat (c), Daniel Burgess, Douglas Finau, Samuel French (wk), Kurtis Hynam-Nyberg, Benjamin Mailata, Noah Mead, Solomon Nash, Samson Sola, Sean Solia, Fereti Suluoto (wk), Ross Taylor, Saumani Tiai, Ili Tugaga, Darius Visser
Finally, where to watch the T20 World Cup Asia-EAP Qualifier 2025?
FanCode will live-stream the Asia-EAP Qualifier 2025 in India. So you can tune in to FanCode’s app and website.
Read Next | Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Qualification Pathway
