In order to create “greater context and consequence,” the ICC stated on Wednesday that the 2028 T20 World Cup’s Super 8 phase will be enlarged to accommodate 10 countries and that the 2027 ODI World Cup will be a three-stage competition up to the finals.
The judgments were made in Edinburgh during the ICC Annual Conference.
In an effort to liven up the competition, the governing body added a Super Series phase before the “Group round” and a Super 7 stage before the semifinals. The 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa will feature 14 nations as scheduled, up from the 10 in the previous edition.
“…the revised format will entail a three-stage competition leading to the Finals, which creates greater context, competitiveness and consequence during the event, ensuring meaningful competition from the opening match through to the Finals,” said the ICC in a statement.
Teams that place 12th through 14th in the tournament will compete in the Super Series round, with the top finisher moving on to the competition’s second round, which will split six teams into two groups.
Instead of the Super 6 stage that was previously scheduled, the top three teams from each group as well as the next best team from both groups will advance to the Super 7 stage.
The Super 7 stage’s top four teams advance to the semifinals.
“The increased consequence and enhanced competitive intensity promises to enhance the overall experience for fans while continuing to provide emerging teams with the opportunity to compete on cricket’s biggest stage,” said the ICC.
There will be ten automatic qualifiers for the competition. Zimbabwe and South Africa, two of the three co-hosts, will automatically qualify to become full members.
As an associate member, Namibia, the third co-host, has not been automatically qualified. The top 10 lineup will be completed by the top eight teams in the ODI rankings.
A worldwide qualifier will choose the final four teams.
After the Group stage, the ICC has chosen to test Super 10 rather than Super 8 for the T20 showpiece in Australia and New Zealand in 2028.
The top two teams from each of the five groups of four teams will advance to the Super 10.
In the previous iteration, only the top team from each Super 8 group advanced to the final four, rather than the top two teams from each group making it to the semifinals.
The tournament is further complicated by the elimination round, where teams ranked second in each group compete against those ranked third in the other group.
“Encouraged by the performance of emerging teams in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the ICC has decided to increase the number of teams competing in the second stage of the tournament from 8 to 10,” said the ICC.
Recognizing the extraordinary circumstances surrounding its participation in the 2026 tournament—having replaced Bangladesh at the eleventh hour—Scotland will advance straight to the Europe Regional Final.
The remaining teams who participated in the 2026 T20 World Cup but were not automatically qualified will go straight to the Global Qualifier.
Regional qualification will be used to fill the remaining eight spots in the Global Qualifier, with one team from each of the Americas and East Asia-Pacific regions and two teams each from Africa, Asia, and Europe.
The top three teams overall and the top team from each area at the Global Qualifier will advance to the 2028 T20 World Cup.
“The new marquee tournament has been endorsed by the Board after being recommended by the ICC Development and Chief Executives’ Committees. However, it will be finally approved by the Board after review by ICC’s Finance & Commercial Affairs committee in the November meetings,” the ICC added.
