The ICC and Cricket South Africa will jointly unveil the full schedule for the 2027 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup at an event in Cape Town on October 1. The occasion doubles as the official one-year countdown to the tournament, which will be co-hosted across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, concluding on November 21, 2027. The exact start date remains unresolved ahead of the announcement, and CricTracker will update this article once the official schedule is confirmed.
The tournament will span 14 teams and 57 matches across 12 venues. Eight of those venues are located in South Africa, three in Zimbabwe and one in Namibia. Alongside the schedule reveal, the ICC will open the ticket ballot registration on October 1, though fans will not be able to purchase tickets outright on that date. The ballot process will determine how tickets are allocated once they become available.
Ten of the 14 participating teams are expected to be confirmed by the September 30 qualification cutoff, just one day before the Cape Town event. The precise group compositions, bracket details and match-to-venue allocations will all be made public when the full schedule is released on October 1.
Which teams have qualified for the 2027 ODI World Cup?
South Africa and Zimbabwe receive automatic berths as full co-hosts of the tournament. Namibia, while also a co-host, must earn its place through the qualifying rounds rather than receiving an automatic entry.
Eight nations have secured qualification through the ICC ODI rankings: India (ranked 1), New Zealand (2), Pakistan (4), Australia (5), England (6), Sri Lanka (7), Afghanistan (8) and Bangladesh (9). The absence of a third-ranked side in the confirmed list reflects the cutoff structure, with rankings positions three and below subject to the September 30 deadline. West Indies did not qualify through the rankings and will need to go through the qualifying process, which is scheduled for early 2027. The remaining spots in the 14-team field will be filled through that same qualifying pathway.
What is the format for the 2027 ODI World Cup?
The tournament will use a multi-stage structure designed to accommodate 14 teams across a lengthy group and knockout sequence. The three lowest-ranked teams will enter a Super Series stage at the outset. Following that, 12 teams will advance into Round 2, where they will be placed into two groups of six sides each.
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The leading teams from Round 2 will progress to the Super 7 stage, which comprises 21 round-robin matches. The Super 7 stage then feeds directly into the semi-finals, with the two winners from those matches meeting in the final on November 21, 2027. The format ensures that even teams entering at the Super Series stage have a viable path to the knockout rounds, making the structure one of the most inclusive in ODI World Cup history. Full bracket details and group compositions will be confirmed when the schedule is officially released on October 1.
