The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) will officially reveal the match schedule for the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup in Cape Town on Thursday, October 1. The event marks the one-year countdown to the flagship tournament, which will run from October 2 to November 21, 2027. Fans will also be able to register for the tournament’s ticket ballot starting on the same day, though immediate purchases will not yet be available. According to the World Cup, as previously, By on August 15, will begin on October 2 — the Gandhi Jayanti Day — next year.
A total of 14 teams will compete in the tournament. Ten of those sides will be confirmed by the September 30 qualification cut-off date. Host nations South Africa and Zimbabwe receive automatic entry, while co-host Namibia must still earn its spot through the qualification pathway. The remaining eight automatic spots will go to the top-ranked sides in the ICC ODI rankings.
Based on current ICC ODI standings, India (No. 1), New Zealand (No. 2), Pakistan (No. 4), Australia (No. 5), England (No. 6), Sri Lanka (No. 7), Afghanistan (No. 8), and Bangladesh (No. 9) are set to secure direct qualification. Bangladesh gains entry as South Africa, ranked third, occupies one of the host berths. Meanwhile, two-time champions West Indies will have to navigate the global qualifiers set for early next year to secure one of the four remaining slots, where teams will be placed into the final schedule as Qualifier 1 through 4. The remaining four teams will come through the qualifiers and will be listed in the schedule as Qualifier 1, 2, 3 and 4.
According to details released by the ICC, the 2027 tournament structure will feature three preliminary stages before moving to the knockout rounds. The action kicks off with a Super Series involving the three lowest-ranked qualified teams in a round-robin contest, with only the top side advancing to the next phase.
Round 2 will see 12 teams split into two groups of six for a 30-match round-robin phase. The top three sides from each group, alongside the best fourth-placed team overall, will progress to a 21-match Super 7 stage. From there, the top four teams will advance to the semi-finals, where the first-placed side plays the fourth, and the second-placed side meets the third to determine the two finalists.
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