Has Australia ever been knocked out in group stages at T20 World Cups?

Australia tumbled to a crushing eight-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in a T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage match in Pallekele on Monday.

This was Australia’s second loss of the tournament, following the setback it suffered against Zimbabwe last week. The Aussie are now facing the prospect of suffering a group-stage exit.

Has Australia ever been knocked out in group stages at T20 World Cups?

Only once has Australia failed to make it out of the group stages in a T20 World Cup – in 2009.

In the 2009 World Cup, Australia lost both of its games in Group C – against Sri Lanka and West Indies – and was knocked out of the competition.

In the 2025 edition, Australia will now have to rely on other results to go in its favour to progress to Super Eights. If Zimbabwe beats Ireland on Tuesday, the Aussies will be eliminated from the tournament.

Australia will only go through if it wins its game against Oman and Zimbabwe loses both its games against Sri Lanka and Ireland. In this case, both teams will end up with four points each. But even then, Australia will need to have a better Net Run Rate to pip the African side.

Similarly, Australia will need a better NRR than Ireland too, since even Ireland can end up with four points if it beats Zimbabwe.

Published on Feb 16, 2026