By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: ICC.
The group stage of the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will begin on 7 October, with defending champions Australia facing India in a repeat of the 2023 final in Cape Town.
Co hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe will begin their campaigns on 9 October and 11 October respectively. South Africa will face New Zealand in Cape Town, while Zimbabwe will meet Afghanistan in Bulawayo.
Fourteen teams will compete at the tournament, with South Africa and Zimbabwe qualifying automatically as co hosts. They will be joined by the eight highest ranked teams in the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings at the 30 September 2026 cut off.
The remaining four places will be decided through the Cricket World Cup Qualifier. The top finisher will secure a place in the group stage, while the other three teams will advance to the Super Series, where they will compete for the final group stage berth.
The Super Series will be played in Namibia, with the second, third and fourth placed teams from the Cricket World Cup Qualifier facing each other on 2, 4 and 6 October. The teams will play a single round robin series, with the top finisher claiming the final group stage place.
The much anticipated India Australia clash will open the group stage in Cape Town on 7 October, reprising the 2023 final.
South Africa will then begin their campaign against New Zealand in Cape Town on 9 October, while Zimbabwe will open their tournament against Qualifier B on the same day.
India and Pakistan will meet in Johannesburg on 10 October, while England will face Sri Lanka at the Namibia Cricket Ground on 13 October.
Zimbabwe will face India at the new Victoria Falls venue in the final match of the group stage.
The top three teams from each group will advance to the Super 7 phase, along with the fourth placed team with the better points tally across the two groups.
The seven remaining teams will enter the Super 7 phase without carrying any points from the group stage. Each team will play six further matches between 25 October and 14 November.
To provide greater certainty around venues and fixtures, teams have been pre seeded into designated Super 7 positions.
India occupy A1, Australia A2, Pakistan A3, England AB4, New Zealand B1, South Africa B2 and Sri Lanka B3.
The Super 7 phase will begin on 25 October in Johannesburg, with A2 facing B3. That fixture would be Australia against Sri Lanka if both teams qualify for the Super 7 phase.
If a non seeded team qualifies while one of the pre seeded teams does not, the qualifying team will assume the position allocated to the team it replaces.
For example, if Bangladesh qualify for the Super 7 phase while Sri Lanka do not, Bangladesh would take the B3 position and face Australia on 25 October.
The system is designed to maintain the integrity of the qualification process while giving fans greater certainty around potential fixtures and travel plans.
The top four teams in the Super 7 standings will advance to the semi finals. The team finishing first will face fourth, while second will meet third.
The semi finals are scheduled for 17 November in Cape Town and 18 November in Tshwane, with both matches having reserve days.
The World Cup final will be played in Johannesburg on 21 November, with 22 November set aside as the reserve day if required.