Afghanistan come into the tournament as the stronger side on paper, while Japan will look to put up a strong fight against a team packed with young talent.
Afghanistan are currently ranked 10th in the ICC Men’s T20I team rankings with a rating of 220.
They are also coming off a strong campaign in the previous edition of the Asian Games. Afghanistan reached the final but lost to India, with the final being washed out and the result decided by rankings.
Afghanistan will be looking to go one step further this time after finishing runners-up in the previous edition. Their campaign will be led by a young squad, with several senior players missing from the team. The tournament gives Afghanistan’s young players an opportunity to perform against some of the top sides.
Japan are currently ranked 41st in the ICC Men’s T20I team rankings with a rating of 74. They will face a tough challenge against Afghanistan but will be hoping to make the most of home conditions. Japan had a disappointing campaign in the previous edition of the Asian Games. They failed to qualify for the quarter-finals and will be looking to improve on that performance in 2026.
Afghanistan squad
Karim Janat, Darwish Rasooli (c), Faisal Shinozada, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq (w), Nangeyalia Kharoti, Farmanullah Safi, Imran Mir, Arab Gul Momand, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Khalid Taniwal, Hassan Eisakhil, Ismat Alam, Mohammad Akram.
Japan squad
Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (c), Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Ibrahim Takahashi, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Alexander Shirai-Patmore (w), Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Wataru Miyauchi, Charlie Hara-Hinze, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Makoto Taniyama, Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Jake Kusuda-Nairn, Alester Kadowaki-Fleming, Tsuyoshi Takada, Kohei Kubota.