'Not only for us right now in the moment but I think we will qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup as well so I think it is a big thing for us and not only for us but for the fans around America as well.'
2024 T20 World Cup co-hosts USA have directly qualified for the 2026 edition of the tournament after booking a berth in Super Eight at the ongoing T20 World Cup.
The USA qualified for the Super Eights stage of the tournament after their match against Ireland was washed out and both teams shared a point each. With two wins, a loss, and a no result, the US secured five points and finished in second place in Group A, knocking Pakistan out of the competition.
The T20 World Cup 2026 will be held in India and Sri Lanka. Both teams will directly qualify for the tournament being the hosts of the marquee event. Seven other teams in the Super 8 will directly qualify for the tournament.
The three highest-ranked teams in the ICC T20I rankings outside of these teams as of June 30, 2024, will qualify for the tournament.
According to the ICC, teams that finish in the Top 8 will receive direct qualification for the next edition of the tournament. The tournament will feature 20 teams, with 12 earning direct qualification, and eight teams will be decided through the ICC's regional qualifier pathway.
Following his side's qualification to the Super Eight stage of the ICC T20 World Cup, USA batter and stand-in skipper Aaron Jones said they are looking forward to competing against more top Test cricket nations.
"Definitely looking forward to the challenge for sure. Over the last couple of weeks, we've shown that obviously we could definitely compete and beat some of the full member nations. So definitely looking forward to playing against them for sure," Jones said after the match.
"Not only for us right now in the moment but I think we will qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup as well so I think it is a big thing for us and not only for us but for the fans around America as well. We really appreciate them for sure and not only for the fans but for the younger generation in America as well, which is really good," he added.
Jones said that even though the team qualified for the Super Eights, they came to the field wanting to have a game of cricket and did not want to leave home without playing.
"That is for me personally, I want to play. But at the end of the day, the rain... it is nothing that we can control. So we are grateful that we got to the Super Eights. But we left the hotel this morning thinking about playing cricket, we wanted to play cricket," he added.
Jones said that not many people pay attention to US cricket and are not aware of the talent the team has.
"I think that could be a little advantage to us, but definitely, I think that on any given day, once we play proper cricket, we believe that we can beat any team in the world for sure," he added.
