ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027: Venues, Format & Schedule Status

The 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will take place in October and November 2027 across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. It will feature 14 teams and 57 matches under a new three-stage format. Twelve venues are confirmed. The exact opening date, full fixture list, groups, match allocations and final venue are not yet official.

That last point matters. A city being named as a host does not mean it has been assigned a particular match, and registering interest in tickets is not the same as buying one.

What is confirmed for the 2027 Cricket World Cup?

Topic	Current official status
Tournament window	Confirmed for October-November 2027; exact opening and final dates unannounced
Host countries	South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia
Teams	14 places in total; only South Africa and Zimbabwe are automatically qualified as hosts
Matches	57
Format	Confirmed three-stage format, followed by semi-finals and the final
Venues	12 grounds confirmed; individual match allocations unannounced
Groups and fixtures	Not announced
Final venue	Not announced
Tickets	ICC interest registration is open; sale dates and prices are not announced
Prize money	Not announced
Squads	Not announced
TV and streaming	Territory-specific rights for the event are not announced

This table reflects official information available on 28 August 2026. We will replace an “unannounced” entry only after the ICC or another responsible official source publishes the detail.

How the new 57-match format works

The tournament no longer moves directly from 14 teams into ordinary groups. The lowest three qualified teams enter a short preliminary phase first, then the competition narrows from 12 teams to seven before the knockouts.

Stage	Teams	Matches	Who advances?
Super Series	3	3	The winner joins the main group stage
Group stage	12, split into two groups of 6	30	Top 3 in each group, plus the better fourth-placed team
Super 7	7	21	Top 4 reach the semi-finals
Semi-finals and final	4, then 2	3	Two semi-final winners contest the final
Total	14 starting teams	57	One champion

In practical terms, the three teams at the bottom of the seeding enter the Super Series and play one another once. Only one survives that phase. The other 11 teams go straight to the main group stage, where the Super Series winner completes the field of 12.

The two six-team groups then produce seven Super 7 qualifiers: the top three from each group and the better of the two fourth-placed teams. The Super 7 is another round robin. Its top four progress to semi-finals, with first playing fourth and second playing third.

This structure can allow two teams to meet more than once during the tournament. Exact groups and seedings will not be known until the qualifying field and draw are complete.

2027 Cricket World Cup venues

The ICC has named eight venues in South Africa, three in Zimbabwe and one in Namibia. It has not assigned the opening match, semi-finals or final to any ground yet.

Host country	City	Venue
South Africa	Johannesburg	Wanderers Stadium
South Africa	Tshwane	Centurion
South Africa	Cape Town	Newlands
South Africa	Durban	Kingsmead
South Africa	Gqeberha	St George’s Park
South Africa	Bloemfontein	Mangaung Oval
South Africa	Paarl	Boland Park
South Africa	KuGompo City	Buffalo Park
Zimbabwe	Harare	Harare Sports Club
Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	Queens Sports Club
Zimbabwe	Victoria Falls	Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium
Namibia	Windhoek	Namibia Cricket Ground

The list tells us where the competition can be played, not which team will visit each city. Travel plans should wait for the official fixture release and venue allocations.

The Wanderers and Newlands already carry substantial international history, but that does not reveal which one will stage a knockout. Their wider place in the game is covered in our source-checked ranking of the world’s most famous cricket stadiums; this event page will continue to use only the ICC’s actual 2027 allocations.

Which teams have qualified?

South Africa and Zimbabwe are the only teams confirmed through host qualification. The Zimbabwe cricket schedule tracks the co-host’s verified preparation fixtures without inventing World Cup matchups. Namibia is a co-host, but it does not receive an automatic place and must qualify through the cricket pathway.

The 14 places are filled as follows:

1. South Africa and Zimbabwe qualify automatically as hosts.
2. The eight highest eligible teams in the ICC ODI rankings join them, creating ten direct qualifiers.
3. Four more teams qualify through the Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Cricket World Cup League 2 is one route into that final qualifier. Its top four teams progress, while other teams arrive through the wider pathway. Reaching the qualifier is not the same as reaching the World Cup: Scotland, for example, has secured a place in the qualifier, not yet in the 14-team main event.

We are not publishing a provisional “qualified teams” list based on today’s rankings. Rankings can move before the relevant qualification position is settled, and presenting a current top eight as final would turn a live table into a false confirmation.

When will the 2027 Cricket World Cup schedule be released?

The ICC has not announced a release date for the full schedule. The current official material confirms the October-November window and host venues but does not provide individual fixtures, group assignments, start times, the opening date or the final date.

When the fixture list is official, this hub will show the complete schedule and link substantive child pages for selected matches and confirmed team calendars. We will not create empty match URLs in advance.

Where will the final be played?

The final venue has not been announced. Johannesburg, Cape Town and other grounds may appear in predictions, but none should be presented as the final venue until the ICC assigns it.

The same rule applies to the two semi-finals and opening match. They will be added to the venue table only after the official schedule ties each match to a ground.

Tickets and travel planning

The ICC is accepting registrations of interest through its official event channels. This lets supporters ask for future ticket information; it is not a ticket purchase, presale allocation or guarantee.

Ticket sale dates, prices, match categories and authorized resale arrangements are still unannounced. Avoid paying an unofficial seller for a ticket to a match whose date and venue have not been published. Any future SportsMuntra ticket guide will link only to the ICC or an officially appointed ticketing partner.

Pakistan and the 2027 World Cup

Pakistan does not receive an automatic host place. Its route depends on the ICC qualification rules and the relevant ODI ranking position. We will mark Pakistan as qualified only after that place is official.

The permanent Pakistan cricket team hub keeps its current captains, squad context and related coverage together. Its 2026-27 team schedule lists confirmed bilateral matches and preparation opportunities, but those fixtures are not World Cup matches. The World Cup fixture list will remain blank until the ICC publishes it.

South Africa is a host, but that still does not create a Pakistan-South Africa fixture. Their permanent rivalry hub will list a World Cup meeting only after the ICC confirms the teams, date and venue.

The same rule applies to Afghanistan. The Pakistan vs Afghanistan hub preserves their 2023 World Cup result and current ODI record, but neither qualification pathways nor a future draw creates a 2027 rematch before the ICC publishes it.

Pakistan won the men’s ODI World Cup in 1992. The complete Cricket World Cup winners list puts that title alongside every completed edition, while the highest World Cup partnerships page keeps ODI and T20 records in separate rankings.

What SportsMuntra will add next

This URL is the permanent home for the 2027 edition. It will move from pre-tournament guide to live event hub and then to a historical archive; it will not be rewritten as the 2031 World Cup.

The 2027 international cricket calendar places this October-November event window alongside confirmed bilateral and women’s fixtures across the year. It will not turn that window into exact World Cup match rows before the ICC publishes them.

As official information arrives, the page will gain:

• the full fixture and results table, with time zones clearly labelled;
• confirmed groups and qualification status;
• venue-to-match assignments;
• official squads and replacement records;
• verified ticket, prize-money and legal viewing details;
• selected match pages that follow one URL from preview to official result.

Every material change will carry a new verification time and source. Routine checks will not be disguised as editorial rewrites, and rumours about teams, players, broadcasters or venues will not fill gaps in the official record.