The ICC has confirmed a major overhaul to the format of the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup.
The tournament will still have 14 teams, but there will be an extra qualification stage before the main competition starts.
The three lowest ranked teams will play in a Super Series with only one team advancing to the main tournament and two teams being eliminated.
The other 12 teams will be split into two groups of six. The top three teams in each group and the best fourth-placed team from the two groups will go through to the Super 7 stage.
The top four teams from the Super 7 will progress to the semi-finals, with the winners going on to the final.
Explained
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced significant changes to the formats of its next two men’s global tournaments after the proposals were approved during the Annual General Meeting in Edinburgh. The revised structures are aimed at making every stage of the tournaments more competitive while giving fans and teams more meaningful matches throughout the events.
The ICC Board accepted the recommendations put forward by the Chief Executives’ Committee, with the governing body stating that the changes are designed to improve the overall tournament experience, raise the standard of competition and strengthen the structure of both events.
The 2027 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, will continue to feature 14 teams. However, the tournament will now follow a completely new three-stage format before the knockout rounds.
In the opening stage, the bottom three-ranked qualified teams will compete in a round-robin Super Series. Only the winner of this mini-league will progress, while the other two teams will be eliminated before the main tournament begins.
The remaining 12 teams will then be divided into two groups of six, with each side playing every other team in its group. This stage will consist of 30 matches.
The top three teams from each group, along with the best fourth-placed team across both groups, will qualify for the newly introduced Super 7 stage.
The Super 7 will feature seven teams playing another round-robin competition across 21 matches. At the end of this phase, the top four teams will advance to the semi-finals. The table-toppers will face the fourth-placed side, while the second and third-ranked teams will meet in the other semi-final before the winners contest the final.