ICC ODI World Cup 2027 Likely to Start on October 4, Final Scheduled for November 21. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 is set to kick off on 4 October; the final is scheduled for 21 November. This event will see the tournament return to Africa for the first time since 2003 and will see South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia share hosting duties.
South Africa is expected to stage most fixtures, as it may conduct some 41 games in total. Zimbabwe will host between 8 and 10 matches, including multiple group-stage matches. Namibia will conduct three fixtures during the tournament, and it will be their first time conducting a World Cup fixture. The 2027 tournament will consist of 14 teams and will revert back to a larger format. 54 total matches are expected to be played; teams will be broken into two groups of seven.
The top three teams from both groups will advance into the Super Six. The top teams from the Super Six will qualify, with four teams moving into the semifinals. South Africa and Zimbabwe have also automatically qualified due to being full member co-hosts. As part of the ICC qualification process, Namibia needs to enter through the ICC pathway. They have no automatic qualifying opportunity, as they are an associate nation.
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This will represent the beginning of a new ICC events cycle and will form one of cricket’s biggest global events. Defending champions Australia will be entering this event having won the 2023 Cricket World Cup held in India. At this point in time, the ICC has not established an official schedule, nor have they completed the approval process for venues yet.