Biggest sports calendar in last 12 years:T20 World Cup, FIFA World Cup among 5 major events; Commonwealth and Asian Games will also be held

If the year 2025 was a memorable year for sports, then wait till you come across the calendar for 2026! This new year is set to have as many as five World Cups across several disciplines, and sports fans will have plenty to cherish, hope for, and take delight in. Cricket has a packed calendar in 2026, with as many as three different World Cups across men’s, women’s and U-19 levels. And several fans would be waiting for the FIFA World Cup 2026, one of the most-awaited tournaments of the year. The competition will be held across three countries–the USA, Mexico and Canada. Tennis will have four Grand Slams as usual and all of them are expected to be very competitive. Apart from these sports, there are the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, which would provide athletes from several countries and disciplines to showcase their talent. Cricket: Cricket has a pretty packed calendar in 2026. The action will start with the WPL 2026 that will be played from 9 January to 5 February. There are a number of multi-national tournaments, the first of which is the U-19 World Cup, starting on 15 January. From 7 February to 8 March, the T20 World Cup will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka. More T20 action in the form of the IPL, which is likely to be held from March to May. Also read: T20 WC to Asian Games, India’s complete schedule in 2026: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli to play 18 ODIs this year; IPL likely to start in March The Women’s T20 World Cup will follow suit, starting in June 2026 and continuing till July. Football: Football’s biggest extravaganza, the FIFA World Cup, is back after four years and this time, it is a bigger tournament, literally! The tournament has been expanded to 48 teams from this edition onwards and will be held in Canada, the USA and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July. Lionel Messi’s Argentina had won the FIFA World Cup four years ago in Qatar, and it will be interesting to see if they retain the crown or if we have a new winner. Chess: Chess is set to witness the Candidates Chess Championship in 2026. The tournament will be played in Cyprus and will see the top eight players fighting it out for an opportunity to battle the World Champion, who is D Gukesh. The tournament will be played from 28 March to 16 April. Hockey: The FIH Hockey World Cup for both men and women will be held in Belgium and the Netherlands from 15 August to 30 August. This is the first time that the men and women will play the Hockey World Cup at the same time. Also read: Defining year for Indian cricket and chess: From RCB’s IPL title, Divya Deshmukh’s WC glory; Why 2025 was ‘year of firsts for sports’ Commonwealth Games: After the success of the last edition in Birmingham, the Commonwealth Games will return in 2026, with Scotland as the host nation for this edition. The Commonwealth Games 2026 is set to be held from 23 July to 2 August. Asian Games: Some of the top athletes from the Asian nations will battle it out for top honours at the Asian Games 2026. The multi-sport event is set to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from 19 September to 4 October. Besides these, both men’s and women’s cricket will have plenty of bilateral matches. Also, the 50-over Asia Cup is likely to be held this year, although there has been no confirmation or announcement by the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) on the same.