ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027: Full Schedule and Tournament Details
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup may be almost a year away. But excitement for the tournament is already building up. And it only keeps rising as the ICC continues to release information about the competition. This post gives you all the details that you need to know to stay up to date. This includes the venues, schedule, format, teams, and more. You can even discover how to place sports bets on platforms like KIXO9.
A Quick Look at the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
The 14th ICC World Cup will be taking in place in 2027. The tournament begins on the 2nd of October and goes on until the 21st of November. The world cup will take place across 3 countries and 12 venues.
The 2027 world cup is switching things up. The first shift is that there will be fourteen teams in the run-up to the world cup finals. This is a departure from the ten-team format of previous years.
The second change is the tournament format. There are now three stages before the semi-finals. The teams that ranked higher in the qualifying only have to part in the last two stages. Lower-ranking teams have to compete in all of them.
The 2027 Cricket World Cup Hosts: Who are They?
Three countries will be hosting the 2027 ICC World Cup. These are South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. This is the first time in 24 years that the tournament is being held in Africa.
These countries have proven themselves capable of hosting the world cup. In 2023, South Africa and Zimbabwe co-hosted the same tournament. Since then, South Africa has welcomed the men’s and women’s T20 World Cups as well. All three countries have recently hosted the ICC Under-19 Men’s World Cup.
In total, the world cup run will take place in twelve venues across the three countries. Here is a quick look at the match locations:
South Africa
The world cup matches will take place across eight stadiums in South Africa:
- Boland Park in Paarl
Buffalo Park in KuGompo City - Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban
- Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town
- SuperSports Park or Centurion in Tshwane
- St George’s Park in Gqeberha
- Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein
- Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg
The Newlands Stadium in Cape Town will host the first semi-final. The second semi-final will go down in the SuperSports Park in Tshwane.
And all eyes will be on the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, as it holds the world cup final!
Zimbabwe
The matches in Zimbabwe will be held in these locations:
- Harare Sports Club in Harare
- Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium in Victoria Falls
- Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo
Namibia
- Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek
ICC Cricket World Cup 2027 Format and Qualification
As mentioned, the ICC is changing its format for the 2027 world cup. There are 14 teams qualifying for the world cup. Lower-ranking teams must go through three stages to qualify for the semi-finals. Higher ranking teams only start battling it out at the second stage.
Super Series
The first stage, Super Series, takes place in Namibia. The three teams that have the ranking 12, 13, and 14 will compete in this stage. Each team must play all the other teams. The winning team will move on to the next tier of the series.
Group Stage
This stage consists of twelve teams. They include the eleven higher-ranking teams and the winner from the Super Series.
At the start, the teams are split up into two groups. Each group has six teams. In the Group Stage, the teams must play each other, regardless of their ranking. This means that there are 30 matches in this stage.
The teams that rank first, second, and third in the Group Stage will move on to the next level. So will the next best performing team from both the groups.
Super 7
This stage has twenty one matches – once again, the teams play each other in a round-robin format. The top four ranking teams in this stage will move on to the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals
The highest-ranking team in the Super 7 stage will take on the fourth-ranked team. The second highest ranking team will battle it out with the team that came in third place.
Participating Teams and Qualification Path
Now you have a better understanding of how the 2027 world cup is structured. So, let’s look at the real-life path to qualification.
The Direct Qualifier Teams
South Africa and Zimbabwe are each automatically guaranteed a spot as a qualifying team. There are two reasons behind this. First, both countries are Full Members of the ICC. Secondly, they are hosts. As an Associate Member, Namibia still has to work towards qualification.
Eight other teams have qualified as a result of their ODI Rankings as of 30th September, 2026. These countries are Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Qualifier Round Teams
The other four teams are decided by their performances in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier. This is a pre-tournament competition with ten teams. At the moment, six teams have claimed their spot.
Ireland and West Indies made it to the list via their ODI rankings. The Netherlands, USA, Oman, and Scotland battled it out across thirty six matches to also make it into the Qualifier.
Qualifier Play-Off Teams
The other four teams will be selected after a Qualifier Play-off. Here, Namibia, Canada, Nepal, and the UAE will compete with each other to head to the world stage of cricket.
