With the conclusion of the New Zealand-UAE match in Chennai, each of the nine Associate Nations featuring in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 have played at least one match.
These nations, despite limited cricket resources and little exposure to playing against stronger teams, have put up a fighting performance. Their show has earned them praise from all quarters and made the contests gripping. Some of the teams have even come close to upstaging teams that have previously won the World Cup.
With each of these nine teams now having flexed their muscles, here is a roundup of how the Associate Nations have punched above their weight so far. The schedule of the World Cup has meant that some teams have been slightly busier than the others.
1. Netherlands: Netherlands made Pakistan sweat hard in the tournament opener in Colombo. While the batters couldn't put much of a show, bowlers bowled with such discipline that even the target of 148 looked tough for Pakistan. Had Max O'Dowd held onto Faheem Ashraf's catch, Netherlands would have cruised to a win. The Scott Edward-led side bounced back from the defeat against Pakistan with a win over Namibia. The bowlers again came good as they restricted Namibia to 156/8, before an unbeaten 72 from all-rounder Bas de Leede helped Netherlands reach the target.
2. United States: The United States of America began their campaign against defending champions India. The Men in Blue were considered as the outright favorites to win this contest and the kind of form their batters were leading into the tournament, the team was billed to cross the 300-run mark in the match. However, the USA surprised everyone as they reduced India to 77/6. It took an extraordinary effort from Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav to bail his side out of trouble. Like the Netherlands, the USA were also close to putting up a giant-killing act!
3. Nepal: Nepal opened their World Cup campaign against England and yet again, a World Cup winning team was made to sweat hard to earn the victory. Batting first, England posted 184/7, thanks to half-centuries from Jacob Bethell and captain Harry Brook. While none of the Nepal batters hit a fifty, collective efforts from skipper Rohit Paudel, Dipendra Singh Airee and Lokesh Bam made sure that Nepal fell just four runs short of the target.
4. Italy: This is Italy's first appearance in a Cricket World Cup. Their qualification for the World Cup is a story in itself. They officially entered the big league with a match against Scotland. The team suffered a setback in the opening moments of the encounter as their captain Wayne Madsen suffered a dislocated shoulder while attempting to stop the ball. Despite losing the leader, the team put up a spirited show against their European rivals. While chasing 208, Italy's Australian brothers Ben Manenti and Harry Manenti stitched a 73-run partnership and elder brother Ben scored a half-century.
5. Scotland: Scotland lost their first match against the West Indies but bounced back to defeat Italy. In their loss against West Indies, captain Richie Berrington played an entertaining cameo of 42 in 24 balls. Against Italy, opener George Munsey played a breathtaking knock of 84 in 54 balls while Michael Leask picked four wickets.
6. Oman: Oman took on Zimbabwe in their World Cup opener. They had a tough outing as they were beaten by eight wickets. Despite the loss, Sufyan Mehmood and Vinayak Shukla put up a fight with individual scores of 25 and 25 when the batters preceding them were all dismissed on single digits. Lower down the order, Nadeem Khan played a cameo of 20 and saved Oman from the embarrassment of getting bowled out on double digits. Mehmood also picked two wickets in Zimbabwe's chase.
7. Canada: Canada had the tough task of playing their first World Cup against 2024 runner-up South Africa. Still, they put up a decent performance as Ansh Patel picked three wickets and South Africa scored 213/4. In the run chase, Navneet Dhaliwal hammered 64 in 49 balls.
8. Namibia: Namibia are now fairly regular at T20 World Cup. Their campaign began against the Netherlands who were smarting from their defeat against Pakistan earlier in the tournament. Although Namibia lost the match, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton's innings of 42 in 38 balls was a noteworthy performance.
9. UAE: The UAE were the final associate nation to get into action. They batted first against New Zealand, and captain Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu scored a fifty each and put on a 100-run partnership. Their batting took the team to a respectable total of 173/6. In the chase, Tim Seifert and Finn Allen put up a record stand to pull-off an easy chase.
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