🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 M39:AFG vs CAN at Chennai🏏

🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 M39:

AFG vs CAN at Chennai🏏

When Afghanistan and Canada first met in a T20, back in 2010, they were two teams on the same boat — Associate nations scrapping it out in the backwaters of international cricket.

Over the next 16 years, Afghanistan has zoomed far ahead of Canada in the global circuit, culminating in a landmark semifinal appearance at the 2024 T20 World Cup.

But, on Thursday (February 19, 2026), as Afghanistan and Canada clash in a T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage encounter at the MAC Stadium, the two sides will once again be on the same footing, at least within the confines of tournament cricket’s jeopardy.

Both teams are out of the reckoning for the World Cup’s Super Eight stage, rendering Thursday’s (February 19) meeting inconsequential.

In fact, both outfits had their elimination confirmed simultaneously on Tuesday (February 17), after Canada conceded defeat to New Zealand.

The mood in the Afghan camp, though, is likely to be more desolate. Having experienced the highs of global success in the 2024 edition, this World Cup has been a bruising return to reality for the Rashid Khan-led side.

The setback would be all the more stinging for Afghanistan, considering how close it came to overcoming South Africa in Ahmedabad in a double super over thriller.

On Thursday (February 19), Afghanistan will also bid farewell to its coach Jonathan Trott, who will leave the side after a stint that lasted over three years.

Big Picture - Afghanistan's changing of the guard?

Dead rubbers aren't really an Afghanistan thing anymore. They beat England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Netherlands, and came close to getting past Australia, in the 2023 ODI World Cup. They earned their place in the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final, dispatching New Zealand, Australia and Bangladesh to get there. Placed in the group of death at this T20 World Cup, they were a genuine threat to the progress of their peers.

As it turned out, a heartbreaking loss to South Africa, at the end of two Super Overs, left their campaign hanging by a thread and now that thread's been cut. Their game against Canada could well signal a changing of the guard. Mohammed Nabi, for example, is 41 years old and has already ushered in the next generation when he played a BPL game with his son Hassan Eisakhil last month. For what it's worth, Rashid Khan hasn't been told any of his players are thinking about moving on.

Canada have left their mark on this T20 World Cup, their 19-year-old opener writing his name up in lights. Yuvraj Samra highlights the talent that is bubbling away, just to the other side of international cricket's spotlight, and the one thing they now have to do is make the most of it by recording a win before they leave.

In the spotlight - Gurbaz and Dhaliwal

One inch. Maybe two. If Rahmanullah Gurbaz had turned his bat face just a smidge more when he met Keshav Maharaj's yorker, he would have found the gap at point and got the boundary that Afghanistan needed to push the South Africa game into a third Super Over. When he couldn't, and was caught, he swiped the turf with his bat with so much force that he lifted himself off his feet. It will take some time for him to get over that. Maybe some runs here could help.

Navneet Dhaliwal will end his Canada career on Thursday. The 37-year-old former captain is already their highest scorer in the shortest format and counts qualifying for their first T20 World Cup, in 2024, as among his most cherished memories. He has one more chance to add to them.

Team news - Changes unlikely

Barring injuries, it is unlikely either team will be making any changes.

Afghanistan (possible):1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Gulbadin Naib, 4 Sediqullah Atal, 5 Darwish Rasooli, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Ziaur Rahman

Canada (possible): 1 Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), 2 Yuvraj Samra, 3 Navneet Dhaliwal, 4 Nicholas Kirton, 5 Shreyas Movva (wk), 6 Harsh Thaker, 7 Saad Bin Zafar, 8 Jaskaran Singh, 9 Dilon Heyliger, 10 Shivam Sharma, 11 Ansh Patel

Pitch and conditions - Chennai confounds

Given this game will start at 7pm local time, there is a chance that dew might play a part, in which case the team winning the toss will want to bowl. Pitches in Chennai have been excellent for batting, beating all pre-tournament predictions.

Stats and trivia

• Nabi is 52 runs away from 2500 T20I runs.
• Afghanistan (24) and Canada (23.73) have done well enough at the T20 World Cup that their batting average is better than England (23.41), Pakistan (21.82), India (21.16) and Australia (19.03)