The International Cricket Council approved new ICC World Cup formats for its men’s 50-over and T20 tournaments at annual board meetings in Edinburgh.
The 14-team ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will begin with a Super Series involving the three lowest-ranked teams. The winner will advance to the main group stage.
Twelve teams will then compete in two groups of six. The top three from each group, plus the next-highest-placed team overall, will qualify for a new Super 7 round.
The Super 7 will use a round-robin format, with the top four reaching the semi-finals. The first-placed team will face fourth, while the second-placed team will play third.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will retain 20 teams but move from four groups of five to five groups of four. The top two teams from each group will qualify for a Super 10 stage.
The Super 10 will contain two groups of five. Each group winner will qualify directly for the semi-finals.
Second-placed teams will face third-placed teams from the opposite group in two Eliminators. The winners will secure the remaining semi-final places.
The ICC said the changes were designed to keep more matches competitive and allow teams to remain in contention deeper into each tournament.
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The board also endorsed a proposed 16-team global event for Associate Member nations. The competition remains subject to approval by the ICC Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee in November.
For the 2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, teams that played in the 2026 edition but failed to qualify automatically will enter the Global Qualifier. Eight additional places will come through regional competitions.
