DUBAI: Pakistan’s men’s and women’s cricket teams face a challenging path to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (LA) after the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the qualification process for cricket’s return to the Games.
Cricket will return to the Olympics for the first time since the 1900 Games in Paris, with the T20 format featuring in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
Only six teams will compete in each event at LA28.
For the women’s event, Pakistan have already missed out on automatic qualification after India automatically secured Asia’s Olympic berth as the continent’s highest-ranked eligible team. Besides India, the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 has also confirmed the first participants.
Australia, Great Britain, and South Africa have advanced by virtue of being the highest-placed eligible finishers from Africa, Europe, and Oceania.
Pakistan women must now finish among the top-ranked teams that have not already qualified to earn a place in the eight-team ICC Olympics Qualifier in 2027. The winner of that tournament will claim the final spot at the Olympics.
The ICC Olympics Qualifier will feature eight teams based on the ICC T20I rankings, excluding the automatically qualified teams.
Similarly, Pakistan’s men’s team also faces a difficult route. The highest-ranked eligible Asian team in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings on 31 December 2026 will qualify automatically.
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India, which currently tops the ICC Men’s T20I rankings, is the favourite to secure that berth. If Pakistan fail to finish as Asia’s top-ranked team, they will need to qualify for the eight-team ICC Olympics Qualifier in 2027 and win it to reach LA28.
The Olympic competition itself will follow a unique format. The six qualified teams will be divided into two groups of three, with each side playing the other teams in its group before facing two opponents from the opposite group that finished in different positions.
The top two teams at the end of the stage will contest the gold medal match, while the third and fourth-placed teams will battle for bronze.
Each participating nation will be allowed to name a squad of 15 players for cricket’s historic return to the Olympic Games after more than a century.
READ: How teams will qualify for cricket events at Los Angeles Olympics?
