Two Associate nations will compete at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 as the Netherlands make their bow, and Scotland appear for a second time.
Both teams secured their place at the tournament through the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifier in Nepal and have been drawn into different groups for the tournament in England and Wales.
The Netherlands
The images of the Netherlands sliding across the rain-soaked covers of a cricket ground in Kirtipur will live long in the memory.
It marked their arrival to the big stage in T20s after a victory via DLS over the USA secured a berth at their first ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The Netherlands have been a part of international women’s cricket much longer than that, hosting Australia on their way to an Ashes series in England in the 1930s before becoming the first Dutch side to play a one day international in 1984.
Four years later, the Lionesses made their first of four ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup appearances.
After finishing bottom of the 1988 and 1993 World Cups, they reached the quarter-finals in 1997, before their final appearance in the longer limited-overs format came in 2000.
Twenty-six years later, the Netherlands will earn a debut at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup having first played a T20 international in 2008.
For their debut T20 World Cup campaign, they will be led by a member of the First family of Netherlands cricket.
Babette de Leede has been part of the side since 2018, following her uncle Tim and cousin Bas in playing in orange.
De Leede was the second highest run-scorer for the Netherlands at the Qualifier earlier this year, with Sterre Kalis leading the way.
The right-handed Kalis made 154 runs across the tournament, with her 87 not out against Scotland the highest score of the campaign by a batter from any nation, and she is also her nation’s leading run-scorer in T20Is with 1,893 runs.
They are joined in the squad by Iris Zwilling, who tops the overall wicket-taking charts for the Netherlands, having taken 98 across a seven-year span at an average of just 15.80.
The Netherlands are being guided by coach Neil MacRae, who was due to step down from his role after two years in February, but has continued on to see the Netherlands break new ground on the world stage.
They begin their World Cup campaign against a familiar foe in Bangladesh, who they will meet in a tri-series with Scotland before the tournament.
From there, they take on India, six-time champions Australia, South Africa and Pakistan.
Scotland
Scotland have made it to back-to-back ICC Women’s T20 World Cups having had to wait 15 years for a debut appearance.
They did not make it out of the group last time as they suffered four straight defeats, facing former winners England and the West Indies and eventual finalists South Africa.
Their debut at a global tournament comes almost 100 years after they played what can be considered the first international women’s cricket fixture, taking on England in Worcester in 1932.
It took until 2001 for the team to play their first one day international, again against England, before their T20I bow came in 2018.
Their rivalry against the Auld Enemy will be renewed on the big stage when Scotland face the hosts on 20 June at Headingley.
Before then, they take on Ireland, who they met in the Qualifier, also facing 2016 champions West Indies, holders New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Scotland were the final team to secure their place at the World Cup, doing so with a 41-run win over the United States.
Katherine Fraser led the way with 184 runs in the Qualifier, while captain Kathryn Bryce was the side’s leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets.
The all-rounder is one half of a star sister duo for Scotland with sibling Sarah, who serves as the team’s wicket-keeper.
Both have been named in the side for the World Cup, as well as Gabriella Fontenla, who will turn 18 days before the tournament begins.
The team have been led by former Scotland international Craig Wallace on a permanent basis since 2024, meaning he has been in charge for both the sides’ T20 World Cup campaigns.
Now, he will hope to guide them to a first World Cup victory when their tournament begins on 13 June in Manchester.
Homerun Diva
While Ireland has yet to win the Rugby World Cup, they have consistently reached the quarter-finals stage in several editions of the tournament. This demonstrates the strength and determination of the Irish rugby team, as they continue to strive for success and aim to make a deeper run in future World Cup competitions.
Glyph
Some of the sports’ most loyal fans consider cricket their religion – and they have a god. His name is Sachin Tendulkar. Although there are cricketers with excellent numbers, Tendulkar’s fans may have a point. Over his 24-year long career, he has notched 34,357 runs, averaged 51.74 half-centuries in 664 international matches, and has achieved 100 centuries. This, along with his charisma, earned him the nickname, God of Cricket.