CAPE TOWN: The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) are set to jointly announce the schedule for the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup on October 1.
According to international cricket website Cricbuzz, the announcement will coincide with the one-year countdown to the tournament and will also mark the opening of the registration process for the World Cup ticket ballot.
A previous report by the website suggested that the tournament could begin on October 1, 2027, with the final scheduled for November 21.
14 teams to compete in 2027 World Cup
The 2027 edition will feature 14 teams, an increase from the 10-team format used at the previous World Cup.
The qualification cut-off date has been set for September 30, with 10 teams expected to have secured their places before the tournament schedule is announced.
Under the ICC’s qualification pathway, the top eight teams in the rankings at the cut-off date will earn direct qualification.
Based on the current rankings cited in the report, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are among the teams competing for direct qualification.
Bangladesh, despite being ninth in the rankings, would also qualify because South Africa have a guaranteed place as one of the hosts.
South Africa and Zimbabwe are both guaranteed places as hosts, while Namibia’s qualification is not yet assured.
The remaining four places will be decided through a qualifying tournament scheduled to take place from February 22 to March 23. The four successful teams will be listed as Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2, Qualifier 3 and Qualifier 4 in the World Cup schedule.
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Ticket ballot to open with schedule announcement
Alongside the tournament schedule, the ICC is expected to launch the ballot for World Cup tickets on October 1.
Tickets will not immediately go on general sale, but fans will be able to register for the ballot from the day of the schedule announcement.
The process is expected to give supporters an opportunity to register their interest ahead of the eventual ticket sales.
World Cup to feature new three-stage format
The 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup will also introduce a new three-stage competition format designed to create more meaningful matches throughout the tournament.
All 14 qualified teams will compete across three phases before the competition reaches the semi-finals and final.
The opening phase will see Teams 12, 13 and 14 play a round-robin Super Series. Only the top team from that group will advance to the second stage.
Round Two will then feature two groups of six teams each. The top three teams from each group, along with the highest-ranked remaining team across the two groups, will progress to the Super Seven stage.
The Super Seven stage will determine the four semi-finalists, with the winners of those matches advancing to the World Cup final.
The revised structure places greater importance on results from the early stages and is intended to provide more competitive matches throughout the tournament.
