T20 World Cup Winners List from 2007 to 2026

The T20 format is surging past Tests and ODI cricket in terms of popularity, capturing the imagination of billions of fans worldwide. The spike in prominence of the shortest format can be gauged by the growing number of T20 leagues around the world.

However, things weren't the same when T20 was first introduced in the early 2000s. The first-ever T20I was played between the Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park in Auckland on February 17, 2005. Unlike an ODI or a Test, the game had an air of giggle around it as players decked up in wigs and fake moustaches while sporting retro kits.

The Kiwis in beige and the Kangaroos in canary yellow took the field, sharing a laugh, and none of the players had their names and numbers printed on the back of their jerseys. If one had to underline one moment that could sum up the entire fixture, then it would have to be the final ball. Needing 45 to win off the last ball, Kyle Mills was on strike when Glenn McGrath imitated Trevor Chappell's infamous underarm delivery from the third final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup at the MCG on February 1, 1981.

With the game in the kitty, McGrath tried to tickle the funny bone, and Billy Bowden added his own flavour to it by showing him a red card, pretending to send him off the field of play, akin to football.

However, all fun and games took a back seat when India secured a thriller by beating arch-rivals Pakistan in Johannesburg on September 24, 2007, and became the champions of the inaugural edition of the ICC Men's World Twenty20.

India's win was a watershed moment, and it dawned on the other teams that T20 cricket would lead the sport's global expansion. Since 2007, the Men's T20 World Cup has had six different winners. India's convincing win over the Blackcaps in the 2026 edition helped them become the first team to successfully defend the title, the first to win the silverware on home soil, and the first outfit to win three titles.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Winners & Runners-Up List from 2007 to 2026:

*Last Updated on 8th March, 2026