Asian Games 2026 Men’s Cricket Schedule
Asian Games 2026 Men's Cricket Schedule: Complete Fixtures, Groups & Format
Cricket returns to the Asian Games for the third time in 2026, and for the first time the men's event will be played in Japan. The Asian Games 2026 men's cricket schedule runs from 24 September to 3 October 2026, with every match hosted at the Kōrogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture. Ten nations will compete for gold in the Twenty20 format, making this one of the most keenly followed cricket schedules of the year for fans across South Asia.
When and where is the Asian Games 2026 cricket tournament?
The men's tournament gets underway on 24 September 2026 and concludes ten days later on 3 October with the gold medal match. All fixtures, from the preliminary group stage through to the final, are being played at a single venue: the Kōrogi Sports Park in Nisshin, near Nagoya. Every match time listed in the official schedule is in Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00), so fans following the Asian Games men's cricket schedule from India will need to adjust for the 3.5-hour time difference.
Which teams have qualified?
Ten nations make up the field for the 2026 edition. Host nation Japan earned automatic entry, five ICC Full Members were directly invited, and four more teams came through a qualifying tournament held in Singapore in June 2026.
- Host nation: Japan
- ICC Full Members (direct entry): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
- 2026 Asian Games Qualifier (Singapore): Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman
Asian Games 2026 cricket format explained
Unlike a straightforward round-robin, the Asian Games men's cricket schedule uses a seeded format designed to reward the top-ranked teams while still giving the lower-seeded sides a route through a group stage.
The six lowest-seeded teams, based on the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings as of 23 July 2026, were split into two groups of three: Group A and Group B. These teams play a single round-robin from 24 to 26 September, and the top two finishers from each group advance to the quarter-finals.
The four highest-seeded teams India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka skip the group stage entirely and go straight into the quarter-finals as top seeds, where they're joined by the four group-stage qualifiers. For the women's tournament, see the Asian Games 2026 Women's Cricket Schedule.
From there, the knockout rounds follow a standard format: quarter-finals from 28-29 September, semi-finals on 1 October, and both medal matches on 3 October the bronze medal match in the morning session and the gold medal match in the afternoon.
Key dates at a glance
- 24-26 September: Group A & Group B preliminary matches
- 28-29 September: Quarter-finals
- 1 October: Semi-finals
- 3 October: Bronze medal match and gold medal match
Teams to watch
With India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka entering directly as top seeds, the quarter-final draw already guarantees some high-profile match-ups against the winners emerging from Groups A and B. India go into the tournament with Shreyas Iyer as captain and a squad featuring Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, while Pakistan are led by Sahibzada Farhan. Host nation Japan, competing in Group A alongside Afghanistan and Nepal, will be looking to make the most of home advantage as they try to spring an upset and reach the knockout stage for the first time.
Bookmark this page for the full, continuously updated Asian Games men's cricket schedule match dates, kickoff times and opponents are pulled automatically as fixtures are confirmed. This centralized venue setup should make it easier for fans to follow every stage of the tournament.