In 1975, the first ever cricket World Cup was held. This tournament decided the best global team in the One Day International format. Since then, it has been held every four years to decide the best team in the 50-overs format.
In its latest edition held in 2023, ten teams participated in the main event. However, the ten teams has to pave their way to the main event. This article describes the qualification pathway to the cricket World Cup by keeping the forthcoming 2027 cricket World Cup in context.
14 teams will contest the main event of the 2027 World Cup. The top eight ranked One Day International teams as per the One Day International format automatically qualify for the main event. South Africa and Zimbabwe automatically qualify for being the hosts. The final four teams of the main event are included through a qualifier league. Now let us see which teams make it to the qualifier league that comprises ten teams.
Teams ranked 9th and 10th automatically make it to the qualifier league. In a second league, teams ranked 13th to 20th from the previous World Cup cycle are placed. Teams in this league play each other in the round-robin format, and the top four teams make it to the qualifier league. The bottom four teams from this stage are demoted to the qualifier play-off which comprise of eight teams.
The qualifier play-off features the top four teams from a challenge league. The challenge league features teams ranked 21st to 28th and top four teams from the challenge play-off. The challenge play-off is played between the bottom four teams of the previous cycle, and the next four highest ranked teams in the T20 International format. Notably, these teams are associate members of the International Cricket Council. These associate teams are chosen based on the following criteria: (a) must have eight domestic teams playing at least five matches of approximately 40 overs, and (b) should be ranked in the Top 40 of the ICC T20 Championships as of 30 September 2023.
Thus, qualification to the cricket World Cup depends on how consistently teams perform in the years between two World Cups. Based on this, they boost their chances of getting to the final 14 of the main event.
