ICC Revamps Tournament Formats For Men’s Marquee Events
The 14-team ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will feature four rounds, with the introduction of the ‘Super Series’ round before the ‘Group round’ to boost results in the early stages of the tournament.
The 20-team ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will require a reformat of the Group stage, with two additional teams gaining the opportunity to qualify for the Super 10 stage; Additional qualifiers to increase the result until the final stage of the tournament
Proposed as a precursor to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the 16-team Global tournament ensures enhanced competition standards and significant competition for partner countries
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has concluded its annual meetings in Edinburgh with resolutions to develop and enhance the significant dimension of its global activities.
The Board, comprising three representatives from partner countries, approved recommendations received from the Chief Executives Committee (composed of Chief Executives and representatives of principal and reserve members) in relation to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup formats, with the aim of creating more meaningful competitions, raising competition standards, strengthening the competitive nature of both events and enhancing the tournament experience for athletes and fans.
The Board also approved the qualification structure for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028, providing a clear pathway to qualification through regional events and the potential institution of a major global competition for associate member countries.
I. ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
The Board has approved an improved competition format for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, featuring 14 participating teams and offering a more engaging tournament for athletes and fans.
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will feature 14 eligible teams but the revised format will feature a three-stage competition leading up to the finals, creating greater context, competitiveness and consequence during the event and ensuring meaningful competition from the opening match to the Finals.
The structure was designed to reinforce the competitive narrative at every stage of the event; Matches in Round 1 and Round 2 carry higher results; A highly competitive Super 7 stage sees 7 qualifying teams go through a round-robin phase to qualify for the semi-finals.
Increased results and increased competitive intensity promise to improve the overall experience for fans while continuing to provide emerging teams with the opportunity to compete on cricket’s biggest stage.
Previous Format New Format
Two groups of 7 people (42 matches)
The top 3 teams qualified for the Super Six
Round 1: (Teams 12, 13, 14)
Round-robin ‘Super series’
Best team advances to Round 2
2nd Round: Two groups of 6 each (30 matches)
The top 3 teams from each group and the next highest placed team from both groups qualify for the Super 7.
Super Six – Two groups of three 3rd Round: Super 7 – One round each (21 matches)
(9 matches) Top 4 teams of Super 7 advanced to the semi-finals
The best two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals
Semi-finals (2 matches) Semi-finals (2 matches): (1 vs. 4 & 2 vs. 3)
Final Final
II. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup continues to be a platform to grow a wider universe of cricket participating countries to compete in the ICC’s pinnacle events. Encouraged by the performance of the promoted 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, while maintaining the opportunity for the promoted teams to participate in this stage (2 teams from each group continue to participate). This promises to expand the representation of cricket’s developing countries at the Super 10 stage and also ensure higher standards of competition. The addition of ‘eliminators’, where the 2nd and 3rd placed teams in the Super 10 stage compete against each other for a place in the semi-finals, also adds a significant impact to the closing matches of the Super 10 stage.
Previous Format New Format
Group Stage – 40 matches Group Stage – 30 matches
4 groups of 5 teams each. 5 groups of 4 teams each.
Two teams from each group advance. Two teams from each group advance
Super Eights – Two groups of four Super 10 – Two groups of five
(12 matches) (20 matches)
The best two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals. The best team from each group clinch their place in the semi-finals.
The 2nd placed teams in the groups will play against the 3rd placed teams in the opposite group in the Elimination match.
Eliminators (2 matches)
Semi-finals (2 matches) Semi-finals (2 matches)
Final Final
III. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualification structure
For the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028 qualification route, Scotland will qualify directly for the European Regional Final in recognition of the exceptional circumstances surrounding their participation in the 2026 tournament. The remaining teams competing in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 but unable to secure automatic qualification will advance directly to the Global Qualifiers. The other eight spots in the Global Qualifiers will be filled through regional qualifiers, with two teams each from Africa, Asia and Europe, and one team each from the Americas and East Asia-Pacific regions. The highest placed team from each region in the Global Qualifiers, along with the next three overall teams, will qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028, subject to minimum performance criteria.
The new major tournament was approved by the Board of Directors after being recommended by the ICC Development and Chief Executives Committees. However, it will ultimately be approved by the Board following the review by the ICC’s Finance and Commercial Affairs committee at its November meetings.
