The International Cricket Council has approved enhancements to the formats of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028 at the Annual General Meeting in Edinburgh.
The ICC Board, comprising three representatives from associate nations approved the recommendations it received from the Chief Executives’ Committee (comprising Chief Executives & representatives from full & associate members) related to the formats of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The changes were introduced to create more meaningful contests, elevate competitive standards, strengthen the competitive structure of both events, and enhance the tournament experience for athletes and fans.
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and will continue to feature 14 teams, and will have a new three-stage format leading to the Finals.
Round 1 – The bottom-three placed sides of the 14 qualified teams will play a round-robin Super Series, the winner of which will progress to the next round.
Round 2 (30 matches) – The remaining 12 teams will then be split into two groups of six, each playing a round-robin format. The top three teams from each group, along with the next best-placed team across both groups, will advance to the Super 7 stage
Round 3 Super 7 (21 matches) – This round features a round-robin format for the seven teams, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals.
The team finishing first will face the fourth-placed side, while the second and third-placed teams will meet in the other semi-final.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will continue to be a 20-team event in the 2028 edition, which is to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The revised format for the tournament has been designed to increase the number of teams in the second stage of the competition, promising to expand the representation of emerging teams in the Super 10 stage.
Group Stage (30 matches) – The 20 participating teams will now be divided into five groups of four, replacing the previous format of four groups of five used at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 10 stage
Super 10 (20 matches) – This round will have two groups of five, playing a round-robin format. The winners of each Super 10 group will qualify directly for the semi-finals.
Eliminators (2 matches) – The remaining two semi-final spots will be decided through a new Eliminators round, with the second-placed teams from each Super 10 group facing the third-placed teams from the opposite group.
The winners of those Eliminators will complete the semi-final line-up, while the semi-finals and final will continue to follow the existing format.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028 Qualification Pathway
Teams which have already Qualified – 12 teams have already secured their spots for the 2028 tournament based on their performance in the 2026 T20 World Cup and team rankings: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Zimbabwe.
The Global Qualifier – The remaining eight spots at the 2028 T20 World Cup will be filled through a 16-team Global Qualifier competition.
Eight teams that competed in the 2026 edition but did not earn automatic qualification will advance directly to a 16-team Global Qualifier. These are: Canada, Italy, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, United Arab Emirates and United States
• Special Case: Scotland receives direct entry into the Europe Regional Final, and not the Globlal Qualifier, due to exceptional circumstances surrounding their participation in 2026.
The remaining eight spots in the Global Qualifier will be filled via regional qualifiers
• Africa – 2 spots
• Asia – 2 spots
• Europe – 2 spots
• Americas – 1 spot
• East-Asia Pacific – 1 spot
The highest placed team from each region at the Global Qualifier, together with the next three highest-placed teams overall, will qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028, subject to a minimum performance criteria.
This new marquee tournament has been endorsed by the Board after being recommended by the ICC Development and Chief Executives’ Committees. However, it will be finally approved by the Board after review by ICC’s Finance & Commercial Affairs committee in the November meetings
