The ICC has locked in the schedule for its 14th Men's Cricket World Cup, with the tournament set to run from 2 October to 21 November 2027 across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Fourteen teams will chase the sport's biggest prize under a revamped format that introduces a new preliminary phase before the familiar group and knockout stages take shape.
Group Stage action gets underway once the Super Series wraps up on 6 October, with India opening their campaign against Australia on 7 October in a Group A heavyweight clash. Interest among fans across Brazil, Africa and India is already building, and platforms such as playwin exchange are likely to see heightened engagement as supporters follow the race through the group phase and into the newly expanded Super 7 stage. The tournament closes out its first round of fixtures with Zimbabwe hosting India, a match that doubles as the first-ever World Cup fixture at the new Mosi-oa-Tunya Stadium near Victoria Falls.
How Qualification and the New Format Work
South Africa and Zimbabwe secured automatic qualification as co-hosts, joined by the eight highest-ranked sides on the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings at the 30 September 2026 cut-off. The remaining four berths come from the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, where the top finisher advances straight to the Group Stage while the next three sides contest a three-team Super Series for the final spot. That Super Series winner then joins the 10 automatic qualifiers in two groups of six, each team playing the other five once.
From there, the top three in each group, plus the better of the two fourth-placed sides, progress to the Super 7 phase. Points reset completely at this stage, with all seven qualifiers playing one another before the top four advance to the semi-finals, confirmed by 14 November. The semi-finals follow on 17 and 18 November, with the final set for 21 November in Johannesburg. Reserve days have been built in for both the semi-finals and the final.
Seeding Clarity for Fans and Fixture Planning
To help supporters plan travel and tickets well in advance, the ICC has pre-seeded several leading nations into designated Super 7 positions, including India, Australia, Pakistan, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Should any of these sides fail to qualify, a non-seeded team that finishes in a qualifying position will simply inherit that seed's fixture slot, preserving the published schedule even if the identity of the team changes. The Super 7 phase begins on 25 October and runs through 14 November, with each qualifying side playing six matches during that window.
Venues and Ticketing Details
Twelve venues will host matches across the three nations. Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek stages the Super Series and three group games, while Zimbabwe's Harare Sports Club, Queen's Sports Club in Bulawayo and the new Mosi-oa-Tunya Stadium add three more venues. South Africa carries the bulk of the hosting duties with eight grounds, spanning Cape Town, Paarl, Johannesburg, Tshwane, Bloemfontein, Durban, KuGompo City and Gqeberha.
The ICC has also opened its ticket ballot, with prices for the tournament starting at roughly USD 9.62 (R158) for entry-level seats and rising to USD 31.31 (R514) for top-tier matches. Organisers have built in family bundles, student and pensioner pricing, early-bird local allocations, and group rates for clubs and schools, aiming to make the showpiece accessible to a broad cross-section of fans across the host nations and beyond.
