ICC Confirms New ODI World Cup 2027 Format: Super Series and Super 7 Stages Added for 14-Team Event

The ICC has confirmed a new format for the Men's ODI World Cup 2027, to be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. The changes were approved at the ICC's Annual Conference in Edinburgh, the same meeting where the T20 World Cup format was also revamped.

The tournament keeps its 14-team field, but the structure now has three stages before the knockouts. It starts with a new Super Series. The three lowest-ranked qualified teams, ranked 12th, 13th, and 14th, play a round-robin among themselves. Only the winner moves forward, joining the top 11 teams.

That leaves 12 teams for the group stage, split into two groups of six, playing 30 round-robin matches. From there, the top three teams in each group qualify for a new Super 7 stage. The seventh and final spot goes to the next best-ranked team across both groups, regardless of which group it came from.

The Super 7 is itself a round-robin stage. The top four teams from it advance to the semi-finals, with the 1st-placed side facing the 4th, and 2nd facing 3rd. The winners meet in the final.

This replaces the format the ICC had previously approved for 2027, which was two groups of seven leading into a Super Six stage. The ICC said the change was made to avoid dead rubbers and empty stadiums in the early rounds, and to add more jeopardy earlier in the tournament. The exact fixture list will be confirmed at an ICC meeting in October.

The 2027 World Cup will have 10 automatic qualifiers, including co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe, along with the eight highest-ranked teams as of September 2026. The remaining four spots will be decided through a global qualifier event.