ICC ODI World Cup 2027 Full Schedule: Check groups, key fixtures, Super 7 format and knockouts

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the schedule for the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027, which will be staged across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The tournament will begin on October 2, 2027, with a three-team Super Series in Windhoek determining the final entry into the group stage. The main group-stage campaign will get underway on October 7, followed by the Super 7 phase, semi-finals and final in November.

World Cup 2027 groups

The 12 teams already confirmed for the group stage will be divided into two groups of six, with two more places to be decided through qualification.

Group A	Group B
India	New Zealand
Australia	South Africa
Pakistan	Sri Lanka
Afghanistan	England
Zimbabwe	Bangladesh
Qualifier A	Qualifier B

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Group-stage matches will begin on October 7 in Cape Town, with a repeat of the 2023 final as defending champions Australia face India.

South Africa will begin their campaign on October 9 against New Zealand in Cape Town, while Zimbabwe will open their tournament against Afghanistan on October 11 in Bulawayo.

South Africa and Zimbabwe qualified automatically as co-hosts, along with the eight highest-ranked teams in the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings at the September 30, 2026 cut-off.

The final four places will be settled through the Cricket World Cup Qualifier. The team finishing first in that competition will qualify directly for the group stage. The other three teams will enter the Super Series, where they will compete for the remaining group-stage berth.

India’s ODI World Cup 2027 full match schedule: Australia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Super 7 fixtures

India will begin their ICC ODI World Cup 2027 campaign against Australia in Cape Town on October 7, followed by the much-anticipated clash against Pakistan in Johannesburg on October 10. India will then face Afghanistan in Tshwane on October 14 before taking on Qualifier A in Bloemfontein on October 17. Their Group Stage campaign will conclude against Zimbabwe in Victoria Falls on October 24. If India qualify for the Super 7 phase, their scheduled fixtures include a clash against Australia in Victoria Falls on October 28, South Africa in Johannesburg on October 31, New Zealand in Paarl on November 4 and Sri Lanka in Durban on November 14.

Key fixtures in the opening stage

The Super Series will take place in Windhoek, with matches scheduled for October 2, 4 and 6. The fixtures will feature the teams finishing second, third and fourth in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

The three sides will play a single round-robin series, with the team finishing at the top claiming the last available group-stage place.

Among the early group-stage fixtures, India’s meeting with Australia in Cape Town on October 7 will attract particular attention, while South Africa will face New Zealand at the same venue on October 9.

Zimbabwe will begin their campaign on October 11 against Qualifier B.

India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet on October 10 in Johannesburg. England will play Sri Lanka on October 13 at the Namibia Cricket Ground.

India will then face Zimbabwe at the new Victoria Falls ground in the final match of the group stage.

How teams qualify for the Super 7 phase

The tournament’s next stage will feature seven teams. The top three sides from each group will qualify, along with the fourth-placed team that has more points than the fourth-placed team in the other group.

The Super 7 phase will run from October 25 to November 14. Unlike some tournament formats, teams will not carry their group-stage points into this phase, meaning every side will begin the next stage without points from the opening round.

Each of the seven teams will play six matches during the Super 7 stage.

Why the teams have been pre-seeded

The ICC has assigned provisional Super 7 positions to several teams in advance to provide greater certainty around the schedule, venues and possible fixture combinations.

The designated positions are:

A1: India
A2: Australia
A3: Pakistan
A4: England
B1: New Zealand
B2: South Africa
B3: Sri Lanka

The pre-seeding is designed to give supporters, teams and other stakeholders a clearer idea of the potential fixture pathway and venue allocations before the group stage is completed.

For example, the Super 7 phase is scheduled to begin on October 25, 2027, with A2 facing B3 in Johannesburg. Based on the current seeding, that would be Australia against Sri Lanka if both teams qualify.

However, the fixture is not permanently tied to those teams. If a non-seeded side qualifies while a pre-seeded team fails to progress, the qualifier will inherit the position assigned to the team it replaces.

Using the same example, if Bangladesh qualify for the Super 7 stage while Sri Lanka do not, Bangladesh would take the B3 position and face Australia in Johannesburg on October 25.

The ICC said this system is intended to preserve certainty around the tournament schedule without affecting the qualification process.

Semi-finals and final

Four teams will advance from the Super 7 phase to the semi-finals.

The team finishing first will meet the fourth-placed side, while the teams in second and third will contest the other semi-final.

The first semi-final is scheduled for November 17 in Cape Town, while the second will be played on November 18 in Tshwane. Both matches will have reserve days.

The World Cup final is scheduled for November 21 in Johannesburg. A reserve day has been kept on November 22 in case the title clash cannot be completed as scheduled.

The 2027 tournament will therefore move from a three-team qualifying Super Series in Windhoek to the main group stage, followed by the seven-team Super 7 phase and the four-team knockout stage that will determine the world champion.