World Cup: ICC adds Super 7 stage at ODI, Super 10 at T20

The 2027 ODI World Cup will be a three-stage competition leading to the finals and the 2028 T20 World Cup’s Super 8 phase will be expanded to accommodate 10 teams, the ICC announced on Wednesday as it unveiled a revamped structure for the marquee events to achieve “greater context and consequence”. The decisions were taken at the ICC Annual Conference here.

The 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa will feature have 14 teams as planned before, up from the 10 in the previous edition, but the governing body has added a Super Series round prior to the ‘Group round’ and a Super 7 stage before the semifinals in its bid to spice up the competition. “...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.

The teams that would qualify 12th to 14th for the tournament will play the Super Series round and the top finisher will progress to round two of the competition that will see six teams divided into two groups. Top three teams from each group, plus the next highest-placed team across both groups, will qualify for the Super 7 stage instead of the Super 6 planned earlier.

Four best-placed teams from the Super 7 stage will then progress 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.

The tournament will feature 10 automatic qualifiers. Among the three co-hosts, South Africa and Zimbabwe will be automatic qualifiers for being full members. The third co-host, Namibia, has not received an automatic qualification as it is an associate member. The eight highest teams on the ODI rankings will complete the top 10 line-up. The remaining four teams will be decided by a global qualifier. 

Super 10 instead of Super 8 at T20 World Cup: For the T20 showpiece in Australia and New Zealand in 2028, the ICC has decided to try Super 10 instead of the Super 8 after the Group stage.

Five groups of four teams will be created and top two from each enter the Super 10.

Instead of top two teams from each Super 8 group making the semifinals in the last edition, only the one that tops the table in each group enters the last four.

Teams placed second in groups play in the eliminator against the teams placed third in the opposite group, adding another layer to the competition.

“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.

Scotland will enter directly into the Europe Regional Final, recognising the exceptional circumstances surrounding its participation in the 2026 tournament, having replaced Bangladesh in the 11th hour. The remaining teams that competed at the T20 World Cup 2026 but did not secure automatic qualification will advance directly to the Global Qualifier. The other eight places in the Global Qualifier will be filled through regional qualification, with two teams each qualifying from Africa, Asia and Europe, and one team each from the Americas and East Asia-Pacific regions. The highest-placed team from each region at the Global Qualifier, together with the next three highest-placed teams overall, will qualify for the T20 World Cup 2028.

“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.