Last Updated on 58 minutes ago by Charbel Coorey
The Men’s ODI World Cup 2027 Qualifier is expected to take place between February 22 and March 23 next year, according to a report by Cricinfo. The International Cricket Council has set the window for the tournament, but the host country is yet to be confirmed.
The event will play a big role in deciding the final teams for the 2027 World Cup, which will be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia from October 4 to November 21.
The new World Cup structure will see the winner of the 10 team Qualifier getting a direct place in the 14-team World Cup. The teams that finish second, third and fourth will not be eliminated. Instead, they will progress to the Super Series, which will be the first part of the World Cup. The team that finishes top of that stage will get the last place in the 12-team main round.
Men’s ODI World Cup Qualifiers 2027 – Scenarios and Format of the Tournament
The 10-team Qualifier will feature two Full Member nations outside the automatic qualification places in the ODI rankings as of 30 September 2026. Hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe are excluded as they are co-hosts.
The other eight places in the Qualifier will be filled by other ICC events. The Cricket World Cup League 2 will see four teams qualify, while the other four spots will go to the World Cup Qualifier Playoff.
The Qualifier Playoff will be played between eight teams. The bottom four from League 2 will play with four teams from the Challenge League. The Playoff system is yet to be announced, but the top four teams will qualify for the main World Cup Qualifier.
The Challenge League will consist of 12 teams split into two groups of six. Each group will play three round-robin tournaments during the qualifying cycle. The top two teams in each group advance to the World Cup Qualifier Playoff which will take place at the end of the competiton.
The race for direct qualification is well and truly on and a handful of teams still have their eyes on an automatic spot in the 2027 World Cup. West Indies are presently bottom of the ODI standings in 10th spot, with just two matches to play before the September 30 deadline. Such matches will be held against India in September.
But West Indies will be looking at other results. Afghanistan, ranked ninth, will play a five-match ODI series against 12th-ranked Ireland.
If Ireland win the series 4-0, then the West Indies could rise to eighth in the rankings with two wins against India. If Afghanistan win the series then West Indies will not qualify automatically and will have to go through the World Cup Qualifier.
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