The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced major changes to the formats of the men’s ODI and T20 World Cups, introducing new structures aimed at making the global tournaments more competitive and creating greater opportunities for Associate nations.
The decisions were announced through an ICC media release on Wednesday following the governing body’s Annual General Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland. The new formats are designed to increase the importance of matches from the beginning of the tournaments and ensure teams face more meaningful contests.
The ODI World Cup will retain its 14-team format but will undergo a major structural change. Instead of directly dividing teams into groups, the tournament will now be played across three phases.
In the opening phase, the teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th will compete in a ‘Super Series’ in a round-robin format, with the top team advancing to the next stage.
The second phase will feature two groups of six teams. After 30 matches, the top three teams from each group, along with the next best-performing team overall, will qualify for the ‘Super Seven’ stage.
In the final phase, seven teams will play a round-robin competition. The top four teams after 21 matches will reach the semi-finals, where the first-ranked team will face the fourth-ranked side and the second-ranked team will meet the third-ranked team.
The ICC has also revamped the T20 World Cup format. The 20-team tournament will now replace the existing Super Eight stage with a Super Ten phase.
The first round will consist of five groups of four teams each. After 30 matches, the top two teams from each group will progress to the Super Ten stage, where two groups of five teams will play 20 matches.
The top team from each Super Ten group will directly qualify for the semi-finals. The remaining two semi-final spots will be decided through two Eliminator matches, involving the second and third-placed teams from each group.
The ICC also approved the qualification pathway for the 2028 T20 World Cup. Teams that fail to secure direct qualification after playing in the 2026 edition will compete in a Global Qualifier alongside teams from regional qualifiers.
Meanwhile, the ICC has given in-principle approval to a proposal for a new 16-team global tournament before future T20 World Cups, aimed at improving the competitiveness of Associate nations. A final decision will be taken after review by the ICC Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee in November.
