Nepal to Host ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in December

The Cricket Association of Nepal has announced that Kathmandu will host the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff from December 4 to 21, 2026. Eight teams will fight for four places at the 2027 World Cup Qualifier — and Nepal's home-soil route to the ODI World Cup stays alive.

Kathmandu Wins the Hosting Rights

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) announced on October 22 that Kathmandu will stage the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff from December 4 to 21, 2026, as reported by The Kathmandu Post. The 50-over tournament is the second edition of the playoff and a key staging post on the road to the 2027 Cricket World Cup in South Africa and Namibia.

For Nepal, reaching the 2027 qualifier would mark the second consecutive cycle in which the national side has made the ODI World Cup Qualifier stage — a measure of how far Nepali cricket has travelled, and of how much this home playoff matters.

The announcement was carried across Nepali outlets including myRepublica, HamroKhelkud and ePardafas, all citing CAN's press release. It continues a landmark season for Nepali cricket administration after the ICC's formal sanctioning of the NPL's third edition, and it hands Nepal a home-soil route back toward the ODI World Cup, with a marquee international event arriving in the capital weeks after the NPL final.

CAN issued the news through a press release on October 22, and it was carried the same day across the country's sports pages. No detailed match schedule has been released yet; the dates, the format and the stakes are confirmed, and the rest will follow.

The Playoff Format and Qualified Teams

Eight teams will compete: the four bottom-placed sides from the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 — Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Namibia and Canada — plus the top two teams from each of the Challenge League's Group A and Group B. Italy and Uganda have already qualified from Group B, while the Group A qualifiers are yet to be confirmed.

All matches will carry ODI status, meaning Italy and Uganda will play their first-ever one-day internationals. The four best-performing teams in the playoff advance to the 2027 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, keeping their World Cup dreams alive; the rest are eliminated from the qualification pathway.

This is the second edition of the playoff, which forms part of the 2027 Cricket World Cup qualification process. The 2027 qualifier itself will be jointly hosted by South Africa and Namibia — the co-hosts of the next 50-over World Cup — so the four teams that survive December will know exactly where the road leads.

For the Challenge League sides, the playoff is a rare shot at the big table: two wins against higher-ranked opposition in Kathmandu could redraw their programs for years.

Nepal's Second Chance After League 2

Nepal finished sixth in League 2, closing the campaign with a win over Oman, which ruled out direct entry to the qualifier but dropped the national side into the playoff. CAN secretary and former captain Paras Khadka told supporters the dream was still on: "Our ODI World Cup dream is still alive. Let's move forward, boys. We will keep pushing, believing, and aiming higher."

Nepal's path here was set in Oman, where the national side finished sixth in League 2 to miss the top four and direct qualification. That sixth-place finish dropped Nepal into the bottom-four bracket and into this playoff — a second chance, but one that has to be taken at home, in front of their own supporters.

The timing could hardly be better for Nepal's players. The NPL Season 3 schedule ends on November 21, leaving the national squad match-hardened just weeks before the playoff begins. Nepal regulars such as Kushal Malla will switch straight from franchise duty with Chitwan Rhinos into national colours, while Dev Khanal — who made 57 against Oman in Nepal's final League 2 match — will also arrive with recent runs behind him.

India A Series Rescheduled

The hosting assignment has forced a calendar change: Nepal's three-match series against India A, scheduled for December 9, 11 and 13, will be rescheduled because it clashes with the playoff. CAN said the new dates will be fixed in coordination and mutual agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and announced later.

The India A series had been pencilled in for December 9, 11 and 13 — right in the middle of the playoff window. With Kathmandu now committed to hosting eight international sides through late December, something had to give, and the bilateral will be redrawn once the two boards agree on fresh dates.

A Big December for Kathmandu Cricket

The playoff announcement caps a landmark stretch for the capital. The upgraded TU International Cricket Ground hosts the entire NPL season from October 26, and weeks later it welcomes eight international sides for a World Cup qualification event — a month after the ICC's Asia conference was also staged in the city.

Between the NPL, the playoff and a bilateral against India A still to be rearranged, Kathmandu is set for its busiest stretch of international cricket in years — and for Nepal, the December fortnight is the one that matters most. A packed home crowd at Kirtipur, where Nepal's supporters are famously loud, could prove the difference in the tight games that decide qualification.

For Nepal, the equation is simple: finish in the top four at home in December, and the road to the 2027 World Cup runs through South Africa and Namibia. The four survivors will join the top four from League 2 at the 2027 qualifier — the final gateway to the World Cup itself. Fall short, and the qualification journey ends.