Eighteen countries from the European region competed in the inital phase of the tournament, divided into three groups of six each.[3] Those matches took place in the Netherlands between 29 August and 2 September 2018. The top two of each group advanced to the ICC World T20 Europe Regional Final in 2019.[4] In April 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted full international status to Twenty20 men's matches played between member sides from 1 January 2019 onwards. Therefore, all the matches in the Regional Finals will be played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).[5]
Three of the fixtures on day one of the qualifiers were abandoned because of rain.[6] All three matches were replayed on the tournament's reserve day, 31 August 2018.[7][8]Denmark and Germany qualified from Group A for the Regional Finals.[9][10] They were joined by Italy and Jersey from Group B,[11][10] and Norway and Guernsey from Group C.[9][10]