The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved major changes to the formats of the ODI and T20 World Cups, introducing additional competition stages aimed at making the tournaments more competitive and engaging from start to finish.
Announced during the ICC Annual Conference, the revised structure for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa will retain the planned 14-team format but will now feature a three-phase route to the final, including newly introduced Super Series and Super 7 stages.
Under the new system, the teams ranked 12th to 14th among the qualified nations will first compete in the Super Series round. The winner of this stage will advance to the next phase, where six teams will be divided into two groups as part of the tournament’s second stage.
The ICC said the redesigned format is intended to ensure that every match carries significance and that teams remain in contention deeper into the tournament.
“The revised format will create greater context, competitiveness and consequence throughout the event, ensuring meaningful contests from the opening match to the final,” the governing body said in a statement.
The governing body added that the new structure would increase the competitive intensity of the tournament while continuing to provide emerging nations with opportunities to compete on cricket’s biggest stage.
The 2028 T20 World Cup will also undergo a significant change, with the Super 8 phase being expanded to include 10 teams, further increasing the number of high-stakes matches during the tournament.
As hosts of the 2027 ODI World Cup, South Africa and Zimbabwe are expected to receive automatic qualification, while co-host Namibia will not qualify directly because of its status as an Associate Member nation.
The remaining places in the tournament will largely be decided on the basis of ODI rankings, with the top eight ranked teams completing the main draw. The final four spots will be filled through a global qualifying tournament.
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