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The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) are set to announce the schedule for the 2027 ODI World Cup in Cape Town on Thursday, October 1.
The announcement will come exactly one year before the tournament and will also mark the opening of the ticket registration process. Fans will not be able to buy tickets immediately, but they can register for the ticket ballot from October 1.
The World Cup will be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
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When Will The 2027 World Cup Begin?
The tournament is expected to begin in early October 2027 and run until November 2027. According to Cricbuzz, the World Cup will start on October 2, which falls on Gandhi Jayanti, and the final is scheduled for November 21.
The tournament will feature 14 teams, with 10 places decided by September 30 and the remaining four determined through the qualification tournament.
How Will Teams Qualify?
Hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe have already secured their places in the competition.
Eight more teams will qualify directly through the ICC ODI rankings. India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are currently in line to make the cut.
Bangladesh, who are ninth in the rankings, are also set to qualify because South Africa, ranked third, have already secured their spot as hosts.
Namibia, despite being one of the three host nations, have not yet guaranteed their place in the tournament.
The remaining four teams will come through the qualifiers and will be listed in the World Cup schedule as Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2, Qualifier 3 and Qualifier 4.
West Indies, who are currently playing an ODI series in India, will need to go through the qualification route. The qualifying tournament is expected to be held early next year.
New Format For 2027 World Cup
The 2027 World Cup will have a different format, with three stages to be played before the semi-finals.
The tournament will begin with a Super Series involving the three lowest-ranked teams among the 14 qualified sides. They will play each other once, with the top team moving into the next round.
The second round will feature 12 teams split into two groups of six. Each team will play the others in its group in a round-robin format, resulting in 30 matches.
The top three teams from each group will advance to the next stage. The next best-placed team across the two groups will also qualify for the Super 7 stage.
Super 7 Stage And Semi-Finals
The Super 7 stage will consist of 21 round-robin matches involving seven teams. The top four teams in the Super 7 standings will qualify for the semi-finals.
The team finishing first will face the fourth-placed side, while the second-placed team will take on the third-placed team.
The winners of those two matches will meet in the final to decide the 2027 ODI World Cup champion.
India Looking To End Long Wait
India will enter the tournament with plenty of motivation after their heartbreaking loss in the 2023 World Cup final.
The Rohit Sharma-led side had remained unbeaten throughout the 2023 tournament before Australia defeated them in the final in Ahmedabad.
India will now look to go one step further in 2027 and end their wait for another ODI World Cup title.