2027 Cricket World Cup
 | This article may incorporate text from a large language model, which is prohibited in Wikipedia articles. (October 2026) |
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| Dates | 2 October – 21 November 2027 |
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| Administrator | International Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | One Day International |
| Tournament format(s) | Preliminary stage, Group stage, Super 7 and Knockout stage |
| Hosts |
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| Participants | 14 |
| Matches | 57 |
| Part of a series on the |
| 2027 Cricket World Cup |
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 Wikipedia Category Commons Category |
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Qualification Overview |
The 2027 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup will be the 14th edition of the Cricket World Cup, the quadrennial international men's cricket championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of ICC. It is scheduled to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia from 2 October to 21 November 2027.[1] This will be the second time that South Africa and Zimbabwe will have co-hosted the tournament, having co-hosted the 2003 edition, while Namibia will host it for the first time.[2]
Background
The Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial One Day International tournament played between men's national cricket teams, organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is held every four years, and was first played in 1975 in England. The last tournament, held in 2023 in India was contested by 10 teams. Australia are the defending champions, having defeated India in the final of the previous edition.
In November 2021, the ICC announced that the 2027 Cricket World Cup will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.[3]
Format
On 15 July 2026, the ICC announced a new format for the tournament, which is intended to increase the competitiveness of matches and reduce the overall duration of the tournament, while maintaining a 14-team field.[4]
- Round 1 – Super Series (3 matches) –The three lowest-seeded teams in the field will compete in a three-match play-in round, played in round-robin format. The winner of this stage will advance to the 12-team main pool for the second round.
- Round 2 (30 matches) – The 12 teams will then be split into two groups of six; the top three teams from each group, along with the best fourth-placed team across both groups, will advance to the Super 7 stage.
- Round 3 – Super 7 (21 matches) – The seven qualified teams will compete in a single round-robin pool, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals.
- Knockout stage (3 matches) – The first-placed team will face the fourth-placed team, while the second-placed and third-placed teams will meet in the other semi-final. The winners of the two semi-finals will advance the final.
Preparations
In preparation for the 2027 Cricket World Cup, a 15-member organising committee of the tournament was finalised in August 2025. Trevor Manuel was named chair.[5] Former Deputy President of South Africa, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was also named as one of the seven independent directors of the tournament.[6]
Schedule
The ICC and CSA announced the groups and fixtures on 1 October 2026 in Cape Town, with the tournament scheduled to take place from 2 October to 21 November 2027.[7][8] The tournament consists of 57 matches played across eight venues in South Africa, three venues in Zimbabwe and one venue in Namibia.[9][10]
Qualification
Hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe will qualify automatically for the tournament, along with the top eight teams in the ICC ODI rankings as of 30 September 2026.[11] The remaining four places will be decided through qualifying tournaments.[11] Although Namibia will co-host the competition for the first time, they will not be guaranteed a spot because they are not a full ICC member and, as a result, will have to go through the standard qualification pathway.[12]
| Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Venues | No. of teams | Qualified teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosts | 16 November 2021 | N/a | 2 |  South Africa |
 Zimbabwe | ||||
| ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings (Top 8 teams, excluding the hosts) | 30 September 2026 | N/a | 8 |  Afghanistan |
 Australia | ||||
 Bangladesh | ||||
 England | ||||
 India | ||||
 New Zealand | ||||
 Pakistan | ||||
 Sri Lanka | ||||
| 2027 Cricket World Cup Qualifier | 26 February – 21 March 2027 | Namibia South Africa | 4 |  TBD |
| TBD | ||||
| TBD | ||||
| TBD | ||||
| Total | 14 |
Venues
Cricket South Africa confirmed eight shortlisted venues in April 2024.[13][14][15] In August 2025, it was announced that 44 matches would be hosted by South Africa across the eight venues, while Zimbabwe and Namibia would host the remaining 10 matches.[5] Zimbabwe Cricket is currently building a stadium in Victoria Falls, officially named the Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium. As of July 2026, it is nearing completion, expected to be finished in August of the same year.[16]
On 30 July 2026, the ICC announced the finalised list of twelve venues for the World Cup, with eight in South Africa, three in Zimbabwe, and one in Namibia.[17]
The first and second semi-finals will be played at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town and Centurion Park in Centurion respectively, while the final will be held at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.[18]
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Super Series
The winner of the Qualifier will advance directly to the Second round whilst the teams that finished second, third and fourth will contest in the Super Series.[19][20]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | X1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to the group stage |
| 2 | X2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | X3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Group stage
The ICC announced the groups and fixtures on 1 October 2026, with group stage, which is the second round of the tournament played from 7 to 24 October 2027.[7][8] The 10 teams along with the two other teams that advanced from the Qualifier and Super Series were divided into two groups of six with each team facing the other teams in the group. The group stage featured a total of 30 matches.[4] The following table lists teams in order of their initial group stage seedings.
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
|
|
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Afghanistan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to the Super 7 stage |
| 2 | Australia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | India |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | Pakistan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to the Super 7 stage based on ranking |
| 5 | Zimbabwe (H) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | Qualifier A |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangladesh |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to the Super 7 stage |
| 2 | England |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | South Africa (H) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | Sri Lanka |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to the Super 7 stage based on ranking |
| 5 | New Zealand |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | Qualifier B |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Super 7
The top three teams, along with the best fourth-placed team across both groups, will advance to the Super 7 stage. The Super 7 stage was played in a single round-robin format, with each team playing the other six teams. The top four teams advanced to the semifinals.[7]
Prior to the tournament, seven teams were pre-seeded for the Super 7 stage based on the ODI rankings at the time: India (A1), Australia (A2), Pakistan (A3), England (A4/B4), New Zealand (B1), South Africa (B2) and Sri Lanka (B3).[7]
| Qualification | Super 7 stage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced from the group stage (Top 3 teams from each group, along with the best fourth-placed team) |
A | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4/B4 |
B | B1 | B2 | B3 | ||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A1 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to the knockout stage |
| 2 | A2 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | A3 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | B1 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 5 | B2 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | B3 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 7 | A4/B4 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Knockout stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 1 | First placed team | ||||||||
| 4 | Fourth placed team | ||||||||
| SF1W | Winner of Semi final 1 | ||||||||
| SF2W | Winner of Semi final 2 | ||||||||
| 2 | Second placed team | ||||||||
| 3 | Third placed team | ||||||||
Semi-finals
Final
References
- ↑ "When does the 2027 Cricket World Cup start? Key details ahead of tournament". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 2 October 2026.
- ↑ "South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will co-host the 2027 men's Cricket World Cup". BBC. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ↑ "USA to stage T20 World Cup: 2024-2031 ICC Men's tournament hosts confirmed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- 1 2 "ICC adds Super Series and Super 7 twist to 2027 ODI World Cup". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Trevor Manuel appointed chair of 2027 ICC World Cup organising committee". The Statesman. 21 August 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
- ↑ "ODI World Cup 2027 Organising Committee Revealed: Trevor Manuel To Lead 15-Member Team". Outlook. 21 August 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 "Fixture schedule announced for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
- 1 2 "ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027 schedule revealed and ballot system opens". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
- ↑ "India-Australia clash to kick off group stage of 2027 World Cup on October 7". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
- ↑ Moonda, Firdose. "Wanderers to host 2027 men's ODI World Cup final as well as India vs Pakistan". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
- 1 2 "2025 Champions Trophy qualification at stake during ODI World Cup". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ↑ Moonda, Firdose (28 February 2024). "What does the path to the 2027 ODI World Cup look like?". Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ↑ "Wanderers, Kingsmead, Newlands confirmed as venues for 2027 ODI World Cup: Report". Firstpost. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ↑ "ODI World Cup 2027: Wanderers, Kingsmead, Newlands among eight SA venues". Business Standard. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ↑ "New Cricket World Cup 2027 venue hosts thrilling first international fixture". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
- ↑ Moonda, Firdose (26 August 2025). "Will ZC reap benefits from investing heavily into Victoria Falls Stadium?". Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
- ↑ "Men's Cricket World Cup 2027 venues and brand revealed | ICC Cricket World Cup, 2027". International Cricket Council. 30 July 2026. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ "ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Final and Semi-Final venues revealed". ICC. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
- ↑ Gollapudi, Nagraj (17 July 2026). "ODI World Cup Qualifier winner gains direct entry to 2027 main round". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
- ↑ "2027 ODI World Cup Qualifier winner to earn direct group-stage berth". ANI News. 18 July 2026. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 2027 Cricket World Cup, points table: standings at Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
External links
- 2027 Cricket World Cup
- International cricket competitions in 2027
- International cricket competitions in Namibia
- International cricket competitions in South Africa
- International cricket competitions in Zimbabwe
- Namibia–South Africa sports relations
- Namibia–Zimbabwe sports relations
- South Africa–Zimbabwe sports relations
- 2027 in Namibian cricket
- 2027 in South African cricket
- 2027 in Zimbabwean cricket
- October 2027 sports events in Africa
- November 2027 sports events in South Africa
- Scheduled sports events
