The group stage is done. Japan are eliminated. Oman are out. And six days of cricket in Aichi Prefecture have produced four quarter-final matchups that nobody is going to find boring. A defending champion hunting gold again. A weakened Pakistan against a confident Associate side. A Nepal side that just knocked out Afghanistan finding themselves against Sri Lanka. And Bangladesh facing the surprise of the group stage. The last eight is set. It starts September 28.
How the Groups Finished
The preliminary round produced results that surprised everyone following the tournament closely.
Group A final standings:
Nepal finished first after defeating Afghanistan by five wickets on September 25. Afghanistan then lost their final match when rain abandoned the Nepal vs Japan game on September 26 without a ball bowled. That abandonment, combined with Nepal’s superior net run rate, confirmed Nepal as Group A winners. Afghanistan finished second.
Japan are eliminated. They lost both completed matches. They were the host nation and gave everything but the gap in quality against Full Member Associate nations was too large to bridge in this format.
Group B final standings:
Malaysia finished first after beating Hong Kong by eight wickets. Hong Kong finished second after beating Oman by 41 runs. Oman are eliminated having won neither of their completed fixtures.
Asian Games 2026 Men’s Cricket Quarter-Finals
| QF | Date | Time IST | Teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| QF1 | September 28 | 5:30 AM | Pakistan vs Hong Kong |
| QF2 | September 28 | 10:00 AM | India vs Afghanistan |
| QF3 | September 29 | 5:30 AM | Sri Lanka vs Nepal |
| QF4 | September 29 | 10:00 AM | Bangladesh vs Malaysia |
All four matches are at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture. The semi-finals are on October 1. The bronze medal match and gold medal final are both on October 3.
QF1: Pakistan vs Hong Kong
This is Pakistan’s first competitive match of the Asian Games 2026. They qualified directly as a seeded side and have been waiting since September 26 to find out their quarter-final opponent.
Pakistan’s squad for these Asian Games is significantly weakened compared to their usual white-ball lineup. Babar Azam is absent. Shaheen Shah Afridi is absent. Haris Rauf is absent. Naseem Shah is not here.
Sahibzada Farhan captains a side that includes Saim Ayub, Haider Ali, and Maaz Sadaqat who impressed in the CPL 2026 final. The squad also features some younger names given their first exposure to major multi-sport tournament cricket.
Hong Kong are not to be taken lightly. They lost narrowly to Malaysia in their group opener but beat Oman comfortably in their second match. Their cricketers are experienced Associate players who have spent years competing in ICC tournaments.
For Hong Kong, this quarter-final is their opportunity for the biggest result in their cricket history. Pakistan are overwhelming favourites. But Pakistan have been playing below their best for months. This quarter-final is not as straightforward as the rankings suggest.
QF2: India vs Afghanistan
This is the most anticipated quarter-final of the tournament. India are the defending Asian Games champions. Afghanistan just knocked out Nepal and finished second in Group A to earn this fixture. The two sides have history. Both sides have played recent T20 where Abhishek Sharma created a storm with a 30-ball century.
India are unbeaten against Afghanistan in every bilateral T20I series they have played. But Afghanistan have taken India close on multiple occasions and have the individual quality to cause an upset if conditions suit them.
Rashid Khan is in the squad. Mujeeb ur Rahman is available. Rahmanullah Gurbaz opens the batting. Those three players alone make Afghanistan dangerous in any T20 format on any surface.
India have brought their strongest available squad. Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma, Sooryavanshi, Iyer, Tilak Varma, and Arshdeep Singh are all here. India are the overwhelming gold medal favourites. Iyer’s record as India’s T20I captain in terms of winning games at the right moments is explored in detail in our piece on why Shreyas Iyer replaced Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I captain.
The quarter-final is the exact rematch of the 2023 Asian Games gold medal match at Hangzhou where India beat Afghanistan to win gold. Afghanistan want revenge. India want to repeat.
QF3: Sri Lanka vs Nepal
Nepal are the biggest surprise of the group stage. They beat Afghanistan. They won Group A. They arrive in the quarter-finals having defeated a team that beat India to reach the 2026 Asian Games.
Sri Lanka qualified directly as a seeded side but they do not have Pathum Nissanka available. Their squad has been rebuilt following the Test series against India where they drew at home. Kamindu Mendis leads Sri Lanka’s batting. Prabath Jayasuriya leads their bowling.
Nepal are not here just to participate. Kushal Bhurtel is one of the most dangerous batters in Associate cricket. Their bowling coach Chaminda Vaas has been preparing them specifically for these knockout conditions. Nepal beating Sri Lanka would be the second-biggest upset in Asian Games cricket history after Afghanistan’s 2014 gold medal win.
QF4: Bangladesh vs Malaysia
Bangladesh have assembled a full-strength squad alongside India as the only two sides to bring their best available players. Shakib Al Hasan is here. Taskin Ahmed is available. Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das provide batting depth.
Malaysia won Group B by beating Hong Kong. Their eight-wicket win was comprehensive. Muhamad Syahadat scored 36 not out in that chase. They are a side playing with confidence heading into the knockout phase.
Bangladesh should win this quarter-final. Their full-strength squad should be too powerful for a Malaysia side that has never beaten a Full Member nation in a major knockout match. But knockout cricket in multi-sport games produces results that regular bilateral cricket rarely does. Bangladesh’s own history of unexpected results on big occasions cuts both ways.
Rain Could Decide Everything
The most concerning factor for all four quarter-finals is weather. Rain prevented any play in the Malaysia vs Oman Group B match. Saturday’s rain, which prevented the Japan vs Nepal match from completing and didn’t allow a single ball to be bowled in the Malaysia vs Oman contest, is expected to be around on the days of the quarter-finals too.
That forecast matters enormously for the quarter-final format. If a match is abandoned due to rain with fewer than five overs completed by each side, it goes to a super over or the higher-seeded team advances. In a half-completed match, Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations take effect. The India vs Afghanistan match could be affected. The Sri Lanka vs Nepal match could be affected. Rain is as important a factor as any individual player’s form heading into September 28.
What the Hangzhou 2023 Results Tell Us
The last time these nations competed at an Asian Games, India beat Afghanistan in the gold medal match. Bangladesh beat Pakistan in the bronze medal match. Sri Lanka did not win a medal. Nepal did not qualify.
The results at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 are developing a different story. Nepal are competitive enough to upset Sri Lanka. Afghanistan have shown they can beat strong Associate opposition en route to the quarters. Bangladesh’s full-strength squad makes them serious semi-final contenders.
Pakistan’s weakened side makes their quarter-final more dangerous than it should be. The Pakistan cricket setup and how the national captaincy question will shape their Asian Games campaign is explored in our piece on Pakistan cricket team captaincy past and future.
Conclusion
Four quarter-finals. Two days. One venue. India face Afghanistan in the match of the round. Pakistan face Hong Kong without their biggest names. Sri Lanka face a Nepal side that nobody had on their radar. Bangladesh face a Malaysia team that upset the group stage format. Semi-finals on October 1. Gold medal match October 3. The Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket knockout phase starts September 28 at 5:30 AM IST in Nisshin, Japan.
