Asian Games 2026 Set for September 19 Start in Nagoya, Japan

The 20th Asian Games get underway on September 19 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, running through October 4 across 43 sports. It marks Japan's third time hosting the Games, following Tokyo 1958 and Hiroshima 1994.

The Olympic Council of Asia's flagship multi-sport event brings together thousands of athletes from across the continent, competing for medals in disciplines ranging from Olympic staples like athletics, swimming and gymnastics to sports with deep roots in Asian sporting culture, including kabaddi, sepak takraw and wushu. Esports and breaking, which made their official medal debut at Hangzhou 2022, return again this edition.

China arrives as the overwhelming favourite to top the medal table, having done so at every edition since 1982, a run of dominance that has held since Japan's own streak at the top ended that year. India, the inaugural hosts back in 1951, will be looking to build on a landmark showing at Hangzhou 2022, where they became just the fourth nation in Games history to cross 100 medals at a single edition.

Cricket at these Games continues to be run through the sport's regular tournament pipeline rather than as standalone medal events, following the same setup used at recent editions. With the countdown now under three weeks, full sport-by-sport schedules and squad announcements are expected to firm up in the coming days as nations finalise their travelling contingents.