The Africa Continental Cup 2026 got underway in Kigali on September 8 and runs through September 19, with five teams, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, and Sierra Leone, playing a double round-robin at Gahanga before the top two meet in the final.
Uganda arrive as two-time defending champions. Here’s the live points table, schedule, and the players worth watching.
Africa Continental Cup, 2026 T20 Points Table
Here’s where things stand. This updates as results come in, so check back for the latest standings and net run rate (NRR).
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | NR | NRR | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Botswana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 2 | Kenya | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 3 | Rwanda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 4 | Sierra Leone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 5 | Uganda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
Shown as of the tournament’s early matches. With a double round-robin, NRR will likely matter a lot by the final round.
Africa Continental Cup 2026: Key Details at a Glance
The Africa Continental Cup 2026 brings five teams together in Kigali, Rwanda from September 8 to 19. The tournament will feature 21 T20 matches, including the final.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Dates | September 8–19, 2026 |
| Host | Rwanda |
| Venue | Gahanga International Cricket Stadium, Kigali |
| Format | Double round-robin group stage + Final |
| Teams | Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Sierra Leone |
| Defending Champions | Uganda (won 2023 and 2024 editions) |
| Edition | 3rd |
Worth noting: this was originally planned as an eight-team event including Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania. All three withdrew before the schedule was finalized, leaving a five-team field and a double round-robin so teams still get a full run of matches.
Africa Continental Cup 2026 Schedule: Full Fixture List
Opening day, September 8, saw Kenya take on Sierra Leone. Here’s the confirmed run of fixtures from mid-tournament onward:
| Match Days | Fixtures |
|---|---|
| Sep 8 | Kenya vs Sierra Leone (and other opening matches) |
| Sep 10–11 | Uganda vs Botswana · Rwanda vs Sierra Leone · Uganda vs Rwanda · Kenya vs Botswana |
| Sep 12–13 | Uganda vs Kenya · Botswana vs Sierra Leone · Sierra Leone vs Kenya · Botswana vs Rwanda |
| Sep 15–16 | Sierra Leone vs Uganda · Rwanda vs Kenya · Botswana vs Uganda · Sierra Leone vs Rwanda |
| Sep 17–18 | Rwanda vs Uganda · Botswana vs Kenya · Kenya vs Uganda · Sierra Leone vs Botswana |
| Sep 19 | Final (top two teams from the points table) |
Each pairing meets twice across the group stage, giving every team a real shot at correcting a slow start — rare for a short T20 tournament.
How the Points Table Works: Format Explained
A win earns two points, a loss zero, with net run rate as the tiebreaker. Each side plays eight group matches, so a poor opening day rarely proves fatal, but consistency across ten days matters more than any single standout performance.
The top two teams after the group stage go straight to the final on September 19. There’s no separate semi-final this year, a direct result of the smaller five-team field.
A Brief History of the Africa Continental Cup
This is the third edition of a tournament that started as the East Africa T20 Cup before becoming the ILT20 Continental Cup, and the same team has won it both times. Uganda beat Nigeria in the 2023 final in Nairobi, then defended the title in Kigali in 2024. The competition wasn’t held in 2025, making this the first edition played at a truncated five-team scale.
Teams to Watch in the Africa Continental Cup 2026
Uganda are the team everyone’s chasing. The two-time defending champions have named a noticeably younger squad this time, led by Riazat Ali Shah, with one eye on the T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Regional Qualifier in Lagos this October.
Rwanda carry home advantage and recent form — they won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Regional Qualifier A in May, unbeaten in six matches.
Kenya were runners-up in that same qualifier and go in as arguably the second-strongest side on paper.
Botswana and Sierra Leone also played in that qualifier group and will use this as a chance to build combinations before bigger assignments later in the year.
Player Spotlight: Faces of the Africa Continental Cup 2026
Riazat Ali Shah — Uganda’s Captain
Shah leads a young Uganda squad into their title defence, taking over a side that’s won every edition of this tournament so far. How he handles a group with several uncapped players will say a lot about Uganda’s depth.
Henry Ssenyondo — Uganda’s Record-Breaking Seamer
Ssenyondo became the first Ugandan man to reach 100 T20I wickets, a milestone he hit during the 2024 edition of this tournament, where he was also the leading wicket-taker. Uganda’s bowling attack tends to go as far as he takes it.
Hamza Khan — Kenya’s Run-Machine
Khan was the standout batter of Kenya’s qualifying campaign earlier this year, top-scoring throughout. If Kenya are going to push Uganda for the title, a lot will run through his form at the top of the order.
Clinton Rubagumya — Rwanda’s Senior Campaigner
Rubagumya has been a fixture of Rwandan cricket for years, both as a batter and part-time bowler. With home conditions behind him, he’s the experienced head Rwanda will lean on in tight moments.
Venue Guide: Gahanga International Cricket Stadium
All matches are being played across the ovals at Gahanga, Rwanda’s main cricket venue on the outskirts of Kigali. It’s hosted this tournament before, along with the East Africa T20 Cup and various World Cup qualifiers, and its multiple ovals let organizers run more than one match a day — how a 20-game group stage fits into ten days.
How to Follow the Africa Continental Cup 2026
Live scores and the points table update through the tournament on cricket score platforms, with ball-by-ball coverage for most matches. Broadcast details for a tournament this size are usually confirmed close to or during the event through the host association’s channels — check Rwanda Cricket Association’s platforms for the latest.
Conclusion
Five teams, ten days, and a title Uganda have never lost, that’s the Africa Continental Cup 2026, running September 8 to 19 at Gahanga in Kigali.
With Rwanda hosting, Kenya fresh off a strong qualifying run, and Uganda defending back-to-back titles, the points table is worth checking daily heading into the September 19 final.
FAQs
The group stage runs through September 18, with the final on September 19 at Gahanga International Cricket Stadium, Kigali.
Five: Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, and Sierra Leone. The tournament was originally planned as an eight-team event before Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania withdrew.
Uganda, who won both previous editions in 2023 and 2024.
A double round-robin group stage, where every team plays every other team twice, followed directly by a final between the top two sides — there’s no separate semi-final this year.
The points table updates throughout the tournament with each team’s wins, losses, and net run rate, and is the quickest way to track who’s on course for the final.
