ICC Draws India, Pakistan and Australia Into Same 2027 World Cup Group

The International Cricket Council laid out the full schedule for the 2027 Men's ODI Cricket World Cup at a launch event in Cape Town on Thursday, October 1, 2026, marking the one-year countdown to the tournament.

India, Pakistan and defending champion Australia landed in the same group again, joined by Afghanistan, co-host Zimbabwe and a yet-to-be-determined Qualifier A, according to the ICC's official draw as reported by ANI, LiveMint, Firstpost, Geo News and the Times of India. Group B pairs co-hosts South Africa with England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Qualifier B, a lineup confirmed by BBC Sport and Yahoo Sports as well.

The Big Matches

The group stage opens October 7 in Cape Town with a rematch of the 2023 final, India against Australia. India then faces Pakistan on October 10 in Johannesburg, a fixture both countries' cricket boards schedule only at ICC events since the sides don't play bilateral series. Shubman Gill will captain India in his first World Cup as skipper, per the Times of India.

England opens against Bangladesh on October 8 and Sri Lanka on October 13, both in Windhoek, Namibia, before facing South Africa in Gqeberha on October 16, according to BBC Sport. From there England travels to Zimbabwe for a group match against a qualifier. England hasn't played in Zimbabwe since 2004. England boycotted its 2003 World Cup fixture in Harare during Robert Mugabe's rule, a decision that derailed that campaign. BBC Sport reported in 2025 that the two boards had discussed a tour of Zimbabwe for the 2027-2031 cycle, and this World Cup trip follows through on that.

How Teams Qualified

Ten of the 14 teams are already locked in. South Africa and Zimbabwe qualified automatically as hosts. India, Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan secured spots as the top eight teams in the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings at the September 30, 2026 cutoff, according to Olympics.com and the Times of India.

The remaining four teams will come through a separate Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament. Olympics.com and ANI both describe the same mechanism: the team that finishes first in that Qualifier advances straight to the World Cup group stage, while the next three finishers play a round-robin "Super Series" in Windhoek on October 2, 4 and 6, 2027, with only the Super Series winner claiming the last group-stage berth.

Geo News's own report contains a contradiction on this point. One paragraph states "the top two teams in the standings will advance into the main round" from the Super Series, while a later paragraph in the same article says "the other three teams will enter the Super Series for the remaining Group Stage berth" — singular, matching the Olympics.com and ANI explanation of just one team advancing. Based on the consistent description across ANI, LiveMint, Firstpost and Olympics.com, only the Super Series winner moves on; Geo's "top two" line appears to be an error within its own writeup.

Format and Venues

After the Super Series, the 12-team group stage runs through mid-to-late October, with the top three from each group plus the best fourth-place finisher advancing to a seven-team "Super 7" phase from October 25 to November 14, per Olympics.com. All Super 7 points reset to zero, so nothing carries over from the group stage. The top four from Super 7 reach the semi-finals, scheduled for November 17 in Cape Town and November 18 in Tshwane, with the final set for November 21 in Johannesburg.

Twelve venues across three countries will host the 57 matches: eight in South Africa (Cape Town, Paarl, Johannesburg, Tshwane, Bloemfontein, Durban, KuGompo City and Gqeberha), three in Zimbabwe (Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls) and one in Namibia (Windhoek), according to ANI and LiveMint.

ICC Chairman Jay Shah, quoted by ANI, called the schedule release and the opening of the ticket ballot "major milestones on the road to the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027," adding that the ICC wants "affordable ticket prices and options that bring families, young people and local communities closer to the action."

One thing the schedule can't answer yet is which four teams actually fill the Qualifier A and Qualifier B slots. That depends on results from the separate Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament, which none of Thursday's announcements dated. Until that event wraps up, two of the 14 World Cup spots and the identity of one Super 7 contender remain open.