Italy may have fumbled their way out of the last two soccer World Cup qualifying campaigns but their cricket counterparts smashed their way into uncharted territory by booking a maiden Twenty20 World Cup berth on Friday.

Italy and Netherlands have both made it to the T20 World Cup 2026 even as the Dutch thrashed the Italian side by nine wickets in the last match of the European qualifiers on Friday. This will be the first time ever that Italy will be represented in an ICC World Cup at any level.

They sealed qualification for the first time ever, sneaking through the European qualifiers despite losing their final match against the Netherlands in a result that suited both teams perfectly.