By Admin 
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced major changes for the Men’s T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup. The new changes include introducing a three-stage format for the 14-team ODI World Cup and expanding the second stage of the T20 World Cup to a ‘Super 10’ format with eliminators. These decisions were finalized during the ICC annual conference in Edinburgh following the recommendations of the Chief Executives Committee (CEC). The governing body said its aim is to create more excitement, raise the level of competition and improve the experience for athletes and fans.
Although 14 teams will continue to participate in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the format of the tournament will be different from the old format. There will be a three stage competition which will go till the final. The three lowest ranked teams (Teams 12, 13, and 14) will initially face each other in round one called ‘Super Series’, in which only the top team will advance to the main stage.
There will be 12 teams in Round 2, which will be divided into two groups of six teams each. The top three teams from each group, along with the next highest-ranked team in both groups, will advance to a new seven-team round-robin stage called the ‘Super 7’. The top four teams from the Super 7 stage will qualify for the semi-finals.
The ICC said, “This structure has been designed to strengthen the competitive environment at every stage of the event, with Round 1 and Round 2 matches being more impactful, with the Super 7 stage featuring seven qualifying teams going through a round-robin stage to qualify for the semi-finals. Enhanced results and increased entertainment will further enhance the fan experience while also allowing emerging teams to compete on cricket’s biggest stage.” Will continue to get opportunities to do so.”
Meanwhile, encouraged by the performance of emerging nations in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup edition, the ICC has decided to expand the second stage of the 20-team event from eight to ten teams. There will now be five groups of four teams each in the initial group stage (total 30 matches), which is different from the previous format of four groups of five teams each. The top two teams from each group will advance to the ‘Super 10’ stage, in which there will be two groups of five teams each.
In a major change to the knockout route, only the top team from each Super 10 group will qualify directly for the semi-finals. The teams finishing second and third in their respective groups will face each other in a cross-over ‘eliminator’ to seal the remaining two semi-final spots.
The ICC said, “This promises to increase the representation of emerging cricket nations at the Super 10 stage, as well as provide better competitive standards. The addition of the ‘Eliminator’, where the second and third ranked teams from their groups at the Super 10 stage compete against each other for spots in the semi-finals, also has a major impact on the final matches of the Super 10 stage.”
The ICC Board also created a roadmap for other teams to qualify for the 2028 T20 World Cup cycle. Specifically, Scotland have been granted direct entry into the Europe Regional Finals, bypassing the earlier stage, where they came as a late replacement for Bangladesh, due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding their participation in the 2026 event.
The teams that did not qualify directly for the 2026 tournament will go straight to the global qualifiers. Along with them, eight teams emerging from the regional qualifiers will be included. There will be two teams each from Africa, Asia and Europe, and one each from America and East Asia-Pacific region.
“The top team from each region in the Global Qualifier, and the next three top teams overall, will qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028,” the ICC said.
Although the ICC Board has approved the format on the recommendations of the Development and Chief Executives Committees, the final approval on this big roadmap will be taken after review by the Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee during the November meetings.
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