ODI World Cup schedule to be announced soon
Published: 29 September 2026, 7:55:38
Collected Photo
ICC and Cricket South Africa may jointly announce the upcoming World Cup schedule in Cape Town on Thursday (October 1) as direct qualification from the ODI rankings in the tournament will be finalized on the last day of September.
The tournament, which is due to begin in 2027, will be hosted by multiple countries–including South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, with 14 teams taking part.
“The ICC and CSA are likely to hold an event in Cape Town to announce the schedule for the 2027 World Cup on October 1, almost a year before the tournament. The 10 teams will be confirmed after the qualification cut off on September 30,” An official from Times of India cited.
Men’s ODI World Cup is lined up to commence on October 4, 2027 and run until November 21, 2027. Other sources inform that the tournament may begin delaying a day; however, confusions are set to be cleared once official announcements are declared.
Apart from two of the hosts–South Africa and Zimbabwe, no other team has been officially confirmed for the tournament ahead of the ICC rankings cut-off on September 30. The two hosts will qualify automatically.
In addition to South Africa and Zimbabwe, the eight highest-ranked teams will earn places in the main tournament. Based on the current rankings, there is little prospect of any change to those eight spots. India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh are therefore on course to secure qualification.
Two-times champion, West Indies have failed to qualify directly in the World Cup for the third consecutive time as they are currently ranked 10th in the leaderboard. Ireland, despite positioning at 12th on the rankings, will compete in the qualifier rounds as host countries were preemptively qualified.
The ICC has already selected Johannesburg, Cape Town, Centurion, Durban, Gqeberha, East London, Paarl, and Bloemfontein as venues in South Africa. Matches will also be played in Zimbabwe at Harare, Bulawayo, and Victoria Falls, while Namibia’s sole venue will be Windhoek.
