2027 Cricket World Cup

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. 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.

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2027 Cricket World Cup

Background

2027 Cricket World Cup

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 (/wiki/1975CricketWorldCup) in England. The last tournament, held in (/wiki/2023CricketWorldCup) 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.

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.

• 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. Former Deputy President of South Africa, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was also named as one of the seven independent directors of the tournament.

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. The tournament consists of 57 matches played across eight venues in South Africa, three venues in Zimbabwe and one venue in Namibia.

Qualification

2027 Cricket World Cup

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. The remaining four places will be decided through qualifying tournaments. 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.

<table><thead><tr><th>Method of qualification</th><th>Date of qualification</th><th>Venues</th><th>No. of teams</th><th>Qualified teams</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2">Hosts</td><td rowspan="2">16 November 2021</td><td rowspan="2">—N/a</td><td rowspan="2">2</td><td> South Africa</td></tr><tr><td> Zimbabwe</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="8">ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings (Top 8 teams, excluding the hosts)</td><td rowspan="8">30 September 2026</td><td rowspan="8">—N/a</td><td rowspan="8">8</td><td> Afghanistan</td></tr><tr><td> Australia</td></tr><tr><td> Bangladesh</td></tr><tr><td> England</td></tr><tr><td> India</td></tr><tr><td> New Zealand</td></tr><tr><td> Pakistan</td></tr><tr><td> Sri Lanka</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4">2027 Cricket World Cup Qualifier</td><td rowspan="4">26 February – 21 March 2027</td><td rowspan="4">Namibia South Africa</td><td rowspan="4">4</td><td>TBD</td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td></tr><tr><th>Total</th><th></th><th></th><th>14</th><th></th></tr></tbody></table>

Venues

2027 Cricket World Cup

Cricket South Africa confirmed eight shortlisted venues in April 2024. 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. 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.

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.

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.

Super Series

2027 Cricket World Cup

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.

Group stage

Group A

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>L</th><th>NR</th><th>Pts</th><th>NRR</th><th>Qualification</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><th> Afghanistan</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td rowspan="3">Advance to the Super 7 stage</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><th> Australia</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><th> India</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><th> Pakistan</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td rowspan="1">Advance to the Super 7 stage based on ranking</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><th> Zimbabwe (H)</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td rowspan="2"></td></tr><tr><td>6</td><th>Qualifier A</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr></tbody></table>

Group B

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>L</th><th>NR</th><th>Pts</th><th>NRR</th><th>Qualification</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><th> Bangladesh</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td rowspan="3">Advance to the Super 7 stage</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><th> England</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><th> South Africa (H)</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><th> Sri Lanka</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td rowspan="1">Advance to the Super 7 stage based on ranking</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><th> New Zealand</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td rowspan="2"></td></tr><tr><td>6</td><th>Qualifier B</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr></tbody></table>

Super 7

2027 Cricket World Cup

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.

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).

<table><thead><tr><th colspan="2">Qualification</th><th colspan="4">Super 7 stage</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="4">Advanced from the group stage (Top 3 teams from each group, along with the best fourth-placed team)</td><td>A</td><td>A1</td><td>A2</td><td>A3</td><td rowspan="2">A4/B4</td></tr><tr><td>B</td><td>B1</td><td>B2</td><td>B3</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>L</th><th>NR</th><th>Pts</th><th>NRR</th><th>Qualification</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><th>A1</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td rowspan="4">Advance to the knockout stage</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><th>A2</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><th>A3</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><th>B1</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><th>B2</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td rowspan="3"></td></tr><tr><td>6</td><th>B3</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><th>A4/B4</th><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr></tbody></table>

Knockout stage

Bracket

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th colspan="3">Semi-finals</th><th></th><th></th><th colspan="3">Final</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td></td><td></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td rowspan="2">1</td><td rowspan="2">First placed team</td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2"></td><td colspan="5" rowspan="3"></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td rowspan="2">4</td><td rowspan="2">Fourth placed team</td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2">SF1W</td><td rowspan="2">Winner of Semi final 1</td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td colspan="3" rowspan="2"></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2">SF2W</td><td rowspan="2">Winner of Semi final 2</td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td rowspan="2">2</td><td rowspan="2">Second placed team</td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td colspan="5" rowspan="2"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td rowspan="2">3</td><td rowspan="2">Third placed team</td><td rowspan="2"></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>