The International Cricket Council (ICC) released the schedule for the 2027 Men's Cricket World Cup which starts from today 2 Oct,2026. The 50 over tournament will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia from October 2 to November 21, 2027, a span of 51 days.
The ICC announced the fixtures on October 1,2026. It is the first World Cup in Africa in 24 years. The last one was in 2003, when South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya were the hosts. It will also be the first time Namibia hosts World Cup matches.
The final of the tournament will be played on November 21,2027 at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The same ground will stage the India vs Pakistan match, which is expected to be the biggest fixture of the event. The opening match is on October 2, 2027.
The new format
The tournament has 14 teams and 57 matches. The ICC says the new three stage format will bring greater context, competitiveness and consequence. It replaces the formats used in recent World Cups.
- Round 1, Super Series (3 matches)- The three lowest seeded teams play each other once. The winner moves into the main group stage.
- Round 2, group stage (30 matches)- Twelve teams are split into two groups of six. Each team plays every other team inits group once. The top three from each group plus the best fourth- placed team, move forward.
- Round 3, Super 7 (21 matches)- The seven teams play each other once. The top four go through to the semi-finals.
- Knockouts ( 3 matches)- Two semi-finals and the finals.
The group
Group A: Defending champions Australia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and one qualifier.
Group B: New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, Bangladesh and one qualifier.
Two places are still open. They will be decided at the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2027, where 10 teams will compete. These are the two best ranked teams that missed the direct qualification ( as of Septembere 30,2026), the top four teams from the 2024-26 Cricket World Cup League 2 and the top four from the World Cup Qualifier Playoff.
Venues
The tournament will use 12 stadiums in three different countries.
- South Africa(8 venues):Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, Centurion in Tshwane, Newlands in Cape Town, KIngsmead in Durban, St George's Park in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein, Boland Park in Paarl and Buffalo Park in KuGompo City (formerly East London).
- Zimbabwe (3 venues): Harare Sports Club in Harare, Queen's Sports Club in Bulawayo and the new Mosi-oa-Tunya Stadium in Victoria Falls.
