The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the groups and the full match schedule for the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup, which will run from 2 October to 21 November 2027.
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The tournament is jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and the final will be played on Sunday, 21 November in Johannesburg.
The draw splits the field into two groups.
Group A of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027
Group A has Afghanistan, Australia, India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and a team to be confirmed as Qualifier A.
Group B of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027
Group B has Bangladesh, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Qualifier B.
Group A holds the sport’s biggest rivalries, with India and Pakistan together. Group B pairs hosts South Africa with England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Co-hosts Zimbabwe are in Group A and will face several of the game’s heavyweights on home soil.
𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙆 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝘾𝘼𝙇𝙀𝙉𝘿𝘼𝙍𝙎 🗓️
— ICC (@ICC) October 1, 2026
The ICC Men’s #CWC27 fixtures have been unveiled 🏆
Access the ticket ballot 🎫 https://t.co/MSLEQzcObb pic.twitter.com/dpTE4TEjO7
Opening fixtures
Before the main draw starts, three fixtures at Windhoek – Capital of Namibia, labelled QF1 v QF3 (2 October), QF1 v QF2 (4 October) and QF2 v QF3 (6 October), are on the schedule.
The main event begins on Thursday, 7 October, with India against Australia in Cape Town. The next day brings Pakistan v Afghanistan in Tshwane and England v Bangladesh in Windhoek.
The headline fixture comes early. India face Pakistan on Sunday, 10 October at Johannesburg. A day earlier, South Africa meet New Zealand in Cape Town.
South Africa play England at Gqeberha on 16 October and Bangladesh in Durban on 19 October, then face Sri Lanka in Johannesburg on 22 October. Zimbabwe’s home schedule includes Qualifier A at Bulawayo (9 October), Afghanistan at Bulawayo (11 October), and Australia (15 October) and Pakistan (19 October) at Harare.
The group stage ends on 24 October with Zimbabwe v India at Victoria Falls.
Australia face Afghanistan at KuGompo City (18 October) and Pakistan at Paarl (22 October). England meet Sri Lanka in Windhoek on 13 October and New Zealand at Gqeberha on 23 October.
Super stage, semi-finals and final
The 30 group matches are followed by a 21-match second phase from 25 October to 14 November. Fixtures are listed by qualification position (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3 and an “AB4” slot), which suggests a seven-team round-robin. The graphic doesn’t spell out the format or how the AB4 place is decided, so details will need ICC confirmation.
The semi-finals follow on Wednesday, 17 November at Cape Town and Thursday, 18 November at Tshwane, leading to the final in Johannesburg on 21 November.
Venues
The tournament will use venues across three countries:
- South Africa: Cape Town, Tshwane, Johannesburg, Paarl, KuGompo City, Bloemfontein, Durban and Gqeberha
- Zimbabwe: Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls
- Namibia: Windhoek
Victoria Falls, a tourist destination rather than a regular international cricket centre, hosting a World Cup match is a notable first for the tournament.
Details are based on the official ICC fixtures and groups graphics. Match timings, the format of the later stage and the qualifier teams were not included and may be announced later.
| Opening fixtures (Windhoek) | |||
|
# | Date | Match | Venue |
| 1 | Sat, 2 Oct | QF1 v QF3 | Windhoek |
| 2 | Mon, 4 Oct | QF1 v QF2 | Windhoek |
| 3 | Wed, 6 Oct | QF2 v QF3 | Windhoek |
| Group stage | |||
|
# | Date | Match | Venue |
| 4 | Thu, 7 Oct | India v Australia | Cape Town |
| 5 | Fri, 8 Oct | Pakistan v Afghanistan | Tshwane |
| 6 | Fri, 8 Oct | England v Bangladesh | Windhoek |
| 7 | Sat, 9 Oct | Zimbabwe v Qualifier A | Bulawayo |
| 8 | Sat, 9 Oct | South Africa v New Zealand | Cape Town |
| 9 | Sun, 10 Oct | India v Pakistan | Johannesburg |
| 10 | Sun, 10 Oct | Sri Lanka v Qualifier B | Windhoek |
| 11 | Mon, 11 Oct | Zimbabwe v Afghanistan | Bulawayo |
| 12 | Tue, 12 Oct | Australia v Qualifier A | Paarl |
| 13 | Tue, 12 Oct | New Zealand v Bangladesh | KuGompo City |
| 14 | Wed, 13 Oct | England v Sri Lanka | Windhoek |
| 15 | Wed, 13 Oct | South Africa v Qualifier B | Paarl |
| 16 | Thu, 14 Oct | India v Afghanistan | Tshwane |
| 17 | Fri, 15 Oct | Pakistan v Qualifier A | Bloemfontein |
| 18 | Fri, 15 Oct | Zimbabwe v Australia | Harare |
| 19 | Sat, 16 Oct | Sri Lanka v Bangladesh | Durban |
| 20 | Sat, 16 Oct | South Africa v England | Gqeberha |
| 21 | Sun, 17 Oct | India v Qualifier A | Bloemfontein |
| 22 | Sun, 17 Oct | New Zealand v Qualifier B | Harare |
| 23 | Mon, 18 Oct | Australia v Afghanistan | KuGompo City |
| 24 | Tue, 19 Oct | Zimbabwe v Pakistan | Harare |
| 25 | Tue, 19 Oct | South Africa v Bangladesh | Durban |
| 26 | Wed, 20 Oct | New Zealand v Sri Lanka | Johannesburg |
| 27 | Wed, 20 Oct | England v Qualifier B | Harare |
| 28 | Thu, 21 Oct | Afghanistan v Qualifier A | KuGompo City |
| 29 | Fri, 22 Oct | Australia v Pakistan | Paarl |
| 30 | Fri, 22 Oct | South Africa v Sri Lanka | Johannesburg |
| 31 | Sat, 23 Oct | England v New Zealand | Gqeberha |
| 32 | Sat, 23 Oct | Bangladesh v Qualifier B | Tshwane |
| 33 | Sun, 24 Oct | Zimbabwe v India | Victoria Falls |
| Second phase (listed by qualification position) | |||
|
# | Date | Match | Venue |
| 34 | Mon, 25 Oct | A2 v B3 | Johannesburg |
| 35 | Tue, 26 Oct | B1 v A3 | Gqeberha |
| 36 | Wed, 27 Oct | B2 v AB4 | Tshwane |
| 37 | Thu, 28 Oct | A1 v A2 | Victoria Falls |
| 38 | Fri, 29 Oct | B1 v B3 | KuGompo City |
| 39 | Sat, 30 Oct | A3 v AB4 | Victoria Falls |
| 40 | Sun, 31 Oct | B2 v A1 | Johannesburg |
| 41 | Mon, 1 Nov | A2 v B1 | Victoria Falls |
| 42 | Tue, 2 Nov | B3 v AB4 | Cape Town |
| 43 | Wed, 3 Nov | B2 v A3 | Durban |
| 44 | Thu, 4 Nov | A1 v B1 | Paarl |
| 45 | Fri, 5 Nov | A2 v AB4 | Durban |
| 46 | Sat, 6 Nov | B2 v B3 | Bloemfontein |
| 47 | Sun, 7 Nov | A1 v A3 | Cape Town |
| 48 | Mon, 8 Nov | B1 v AB4 | Durban |
| 49 | Tue, 9 Nov | B2 v A2 | Gqeberha |
| 50 | Wed, 10 Nov | A3 v B3 | Bloemfontein |
| 51 | Thu, 11 Nov | A1 v AB4 | Gqeberha |
| 52 | Fri, 12 Nov | B2 v B1 | Cape Town |
| 53 | Sat, 13 Nov | A2 v A3 | Bloemfontein |
| 54 | Sun, 14 Nov | A1 v B3 | Durban |
