Delhi: The countdown for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027 has started as there is not even a year left for the tournament to start. It is certain that a total of 14 teams will play in the World Cup, but the truth is that till now only the names of 10 teams have been decided. These 10 teams are as follows:
Host 2: South Africa and Zimbabwe (from automatic qualification)
Top 8 from ICC ODI rankings (as of 30 September 2026): India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh
Also read – The secret of Kohli's surprising catch and Rohit's run out came to light.
Now the remaining 4 teams, about which you will get to read everywhere that these 4 teams will meet in the World Cup Qualifier, in which a total of 10 teams will play and this tournament will be played in South Africa and Namibia from 26 February to 21 March next year, i.e. after SA20 and before the IPL.
Which will be these 10 teams? When we look for the answer to this question, then from here begins the web which the ICC has woven and made so complicated that even the participating teams are getting entangled in it. Ask those teams who are moving ahead in this trap, crossing each floor. Let us still understand this in a simpler way:
There are two teams which are full members of ICC i.e. Test countries but could not qualify directly due to low ranking. West Indies and Ireland got these two places.
The 4 teams will be those which topped the World Cricket League Division 2 tournament.
The 4 teams will be those that come from the 'World Cup Qualifier Playoff'.
So in this way, the remaining 8 team places will be filled through World Cricket League Division 2 and World Cup Qualifier playoffs respectively. Of these, the World Cricket League Division 2 tournament has now been completed.
World Cricket League Division 2 Tournament: Believe me, this tournament was of 144 ODI matches in which each team played 36 ODIs. America, Scotland, Netherlands, Oman, Namibia, Nepal, Canada and UAE participated in the tournament and this tournament lasted for more than two and a half years. According to the final points table, America, Scotland, Netherlands and Oman were the top 4 teams and these 4 qualified to participate in next year's World Cup qualifiers. There is still no guarantee that he will be able to play in the World Cup. All the teams have called it 'punishment'. Note that Namibia, the third joint host of the World Cup, is not in this list. The interesting thing is that after playing for more than two and a half years, the name of the fourth team was decided in the last match of the tournament. Such was the competition.
Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-Off: 8 teams will play in it, out of which 4 are those which remained at the bottom in the World Cricket League Division 2 tournament i.e. Namibia, Nepal, Canada and UAE. The remaining 4 teams are Kuwait, Jersey, Italy and Uganda and all four have reached here through different tournaments. Kuwait and Jersey: These two were the top two teams in the Cricket World Cup Challenge League A and hence qualified. Italy and Uganda: These two were the top two teams in Cricket World Cup Challenge League B and hence qualified. This tournament will now be played in Nepal from 4th December.
So in this way 10 teams will be decided which will secure their place in the 'Global Qualifier'. Currently, West Indies, Ireland, USA, Scotland, Netherlands and Oman are confirmed to play and the remaining 4 teams, as written above, will come from the World Cup Qualifier Playoff.
Then the 'Global Qualifier' will decide which 4 teams will qualify for the World Cup. In fact, 3 of these 4 still have one more stage to cross, meaning only the top teams will go straight into the main World Cup draw. The World Cup will officially start on October 2, 2027, but it will actually be a qualifier round and the three lowest-ranked remaining qualifier teams will first play a super series in Windhoek, Namibia. Only the winner of this series will go into the main World Cup draw.
Also read – The secret of Kohli's surprising catch and Rohit's run out came to light.
This way, after a total of almost three years of play, it will be decided which two teams, after not qualifying directly for the World Cup, are now playing in the World Cup.