The Netherlands will play the curtain-raiser of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup against Pakistan in Colombo on February 7.

Participating in their seventh T20 World Cup, the Dutch are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Namibia, USA and the defending champions, India.

The 20-team tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka across 29 days and eight venues in February and March.

India and the Netherlands are the only two teams to play all their group games at four different venues. After the first game, the Dutch will play Namibia in Delhi on February 10 before moving down south to Chennai to take on the USA on February 13.

Their high-profile clash against India will be their final group game on February 18 and will be played at the iconic 132,000-seater Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the largest stadium in the world by capacity.

The tournament will follow the same format as the previous edition in 2024, where the teams were divided in four groups of five. The top two teams from each group will progress into the Super Eight phase from February 21 onwards.

The top four sides at the completion of the Super Eights qualify for the knockout stages, with the semi-finals to be held in Kolkata – or Colombo if Pakistan qualify – and Mumbai. The final will be held either in Ahmedabad or Colombo, subject to Pakistan’s qualification, on March 8.

The Netherlands are one of two teams to come through the European qualifiers – alongside debutants Italy.

At the last edition, the Dutch could only manage one win over Nepal in Dallas before losing their other group games against South Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Schedule:

Saturday, February 7 – Pakistan vs Netherlands – SSC Colombo (11am local time/6:30am CEST)

Tuesday, February 10 – Netherlands vs Namibia – Delhi (11am local time/6:30am CEST)

Friday, February 13 – Netherlands vs USA – Chennai (7pm local time/2:30pm CEST)

Wednesday, February 18 – India vs Netherlands – Ahmedabad (7pm local time/2:30pm CEST)