The ICC has announced a major change to the format of the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

The tournament will still feature 14 teams, but the governing body has introduced a new Super Series round before the group stage and a Super 7 round before the semi-finals.

According to the ICC, the new format has been designed to make early-stage matches more meaningful and reduce the chances of dead rubbers.

Under the revised structure, the teams ranked 12th, 13th, and 14th in qualification will play a Super Series round. Only one of these three teams will move forward to the main group stage.

The group stage will then feature 12 teams divided into two groups. The top three teams from each group, along with the next best-ranked team across both groups, will qualify for the Super 7 stage.

The seven teams in the Super 7 will play another round-robin stage, with the top four teams progressing to the semi-finals.

The ICC had earlier decided in 2021 to expand the ODI World Cup from 10 teams to 14 teams after the 2019 and 2023 editions featured only 10 sides.

However, instead of using the earlier proposed model of two groups of seven followed by a Super 6 stage, the ICC has now opted for a format that includes an early knockout-style phase.

The change comes after concerns were raised over one-sided matches and low-interest fixtures in major ICC tournaments. The new structure is aimed at keeping more matches relevant from the beginning of the event.

The final tournament structure and fixtures will be confirmed at an ICC meeting in October.

South Africa is expected to host most of the matches, while Zimbabwe is likely to stage around 10 games. Namibia is expected to host a smaller number of fixtures.

The qualification process is expected to remain unchanged. South Africa and Zimbabwe, as full-member co-hosts, will qualify automatically along with the eight highest-ranked teams in the ODI rankings by the September 2026 cut-off.

The remaining four places will be decided through a global qualifier, which is expected to feature 10 teams.

The qualifier is likely to be held in December 2026 or January 2027, with Namibia or South Africa being considered as possible hosts.

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