Cricket World Cup 2023 qualifying: Format, teams and how qualification worked for ICC ODI tournament in India

Vishakha Deshpande

Cricket World Cup 2023 qualifying: Format, teams and how qualification worked for ICC ODI tournament in India image

India is set to host the 13th edition of the Cricket World Cup from October 5 to November 19, 2023, with 10 teams set to battle it out to win the coveted ICC trophy.

The 2023 Cricket World Cup saw the advent of a new qualification process. A series of tournaments and competitions decided the composition of teams that would be a part of the showpiece.

And there were some shocks along the way. Here we look back at how the teams qualified. 

MORE: Cricket World Cup 2023 full match schedule | Bet on Cricket World Cup and other matches here (selected territories)

2023 ODI Cricket World Cup qualifying format

A total of 32 countries were a part of the qualifying cycle. At the end of the process, 10 teams were finalised for the World Cup in India.

The initial 32 teams were divided into three leagues — Super League, League 2 and Challenge League— on the basis of their ICC membership, ODI status and their ranking after the 2017-19 qualifying process.

The Super League featured 13 teams, out of which eight (including the hosts, India) qualified for the World Cup based on the 2020-23 Super League tournament rankings. 

Here's how that initial stage of qualification played out:

Tournament Dates Qualified/Outcome
Super League July 30, 2020 – May, 14 2023 India, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa qualify directly for World Cup

West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Netherlands advance to Qualifier
League 2 August, 14 2019 – March, 16 2023 Nepal, Oman, Scotland advance to Qualifier

Namibia, Papua New Guinea, UAE, United States advance to Qualifier play-offs.
Challenge League
September 16 2019 – December 13 2022
Canada, Jersey advance to Qualifier play-offs

After this initial stage — and then a series of play-offs between the Associate nations —the remaining teams in contention played in the 2023 Qualifier in Zimbabwe. The top two teams from that qualified directly for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

Ireland, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Oman, Scotland, UAE and United States all took part in that final elimination stage. And, in the end, it was the Netherlands and Sri Lanka who made it through, meeting in the final as Sri Lanka emerged victorious overall.

The shock, though, was the exit of the West Indies

The two-time World Champions have had a miserable past few years in the ODI format and they lost their opening fixture of the Super Six on July 1 against Scotland to end their chances of making the World Cup.

ODI World Cup 2023 full list of qualified teams

Once the qualifiers were all done, the teams participating in the 2023 World Cup were confirmed. They are:

  • India
  • Australia
  • England
  • New Zealand
  • Afghanistan
  • South Africa
  • Pakistan
  • Bangladesh
  • Sri Lanka
  • Netherlands

2023 ODI Cricket World Cup fixtures

Each team will play all the other nine teams in a round-robin format. The top four teams will then qualify for the semi-finals. The host country will play all their games under lights and so all of India's games will begin at 2 p.m. local time, IST.

Date

Match

Venue

Time (local, IST)

October 5

England vs New Zealand

Ahmedabad

14:00

October 6

Pakistan vs Netherlands

Hyderabad

14:00

October 7

Bangladesh vs Afghanistan

Dharamsala

10:30

October 7

South Africa vs Sri Lanka

Delhi 

14:00

October 8

India vs Australia

Chennai

14:00

October 9

New Zealand vs Netherlands

Hyderabad

14:00

October 10

England vs Bangladesh

Dharamsala

14:00

October 11

India vs Afghanistan

Delhi 

14:00

October 12

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka

Hyderabad

14:00

October 13

Australia vs South Africa

Lucknow 

14:00

October 14

England vs Afghanistan

Delhi

14:00

October 14

New Zealand vs Bangladesh

Chennai

10:30

October 15

India vs Pakistan

Ahmedabad

14:00

October 16

Australia vs Sri Lanka

Lucknow

14:00

October 17

South Africa vs Netherlands

Dharamsala

14:00

October 18

New Zealand vs Afghanistan

Chennai

14:00

October 19

India vs Bangladesh

Pune

14:00

October 20

Australia vs Pakistan

Bengaluru

14:00

October 21

England vs South Africa

Mumbai

14:00

October 21

Netherlands vs Sri Lanka

Lucknow

10:30

October 22

India vs New Zealand 

Dharamsala

14:00

October 23

Pakistan vs Afghanistan

Chennai

14:00

October 24

South Africa vs Bangladesh

Mumbai

14:00

October 25

Australia vs Netherlands

Delhi 

14:00

October 26

England vs Sri Lanka

Bengaluru

14:00

October 27

Pakistan vs South Africa

Chennai

14:00

October 28

Netherlands vs Bangladesh

Kolkata

14:00

October 28

Australia vs New Zealand

Dharamsala

10:30

October 29

India vs England

Lucknow

14:00

October 30

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka

Pune

14:00

October 31

Pakistan vs Bangladesh

Kolkata

14:00

November 1

New Zealand vs South Africa

Pune

14:00

November 2

India vs Sri Lanka

Mumbai

14:00

November 3

Netherlands vs Afghanistan

Lucknow

14:00

November 4

England vs Australia

Ahmedabad

14:00

November 4

New Zealand vs Pakistan

Bengaluru

10:30

November 5

India vs South Africa

Kolkata

14:00

November 6

Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka

Delhi 

14:00

November 7

Australia vs Afghanistan

Mumbai

14:00

November 8

England vs Netherlands

Pune

14:00

November 9

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka

Bengaluru

14:00

November 10

South Africa vs Afghanistan

Ahmedabad

14:00

November 11

India vs Netherlands

Bengaluru

14:00

November 12

England vs Pakistan

Kolkata

14:00

November 12

Australia vs Bangladesh

Pune

10:30

November 15

Semi-final 1

Mumbai

14:00

November 16

Semi-final 2

Kolkata

14:00

November 19

Final

Ahmedabad

14:00

What time are Cricket World Cup matches?

Cricket World Cup matches will generally take place at 2 p.m. local time IST in India, which for the start of the tournament translates to 7:30 p.m. AEDT in Australia and 9.30 a.m. in the UK.

When the UK clocks change on Sunday, October 29 matches will instead begin at 8.30 a.m. GMT.

Cricket fans in North America, where the next T20 World Cup takes place in 2024, will have to get up early to see matches at 4.30 a.m. for the start of the tournament, and 3.30 a.m. once the North American clocks change.

There will also be a handful of games in the 10.30 a.m. IST slot. 

Cricket World Cup venues

India is all set to welcome the nine qualifying nations for the ODI World Cup 2023 with stadiums across 10 cities being set up for the league and playoff games.

The BCCI has granted $6.3 million to every venue for the upgrading of facilities. The semi-finals will be hosted by Mumbai and Kolkata at the iconic Wankhede Stadium and Eden Garden stadiums respectively.

Here's a list of all the cities and venues that will host the ODI World Cup 2023:

City

Venue

Ahmedabad

Narendra Modi Stadium

Mumbai

Wankhede Stadium

Lucknow

Ekana Cricket Stadium

Dharamsala

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium

Hyderabad

Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium

Kolkata

Eden Gardens

Pune

Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium

Delhi

Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium

Chennai

MA Chidambaram Stadium

Bengaluru

M Chinnaswamy Stadium

Who will win the Cricket World Cup 2023?

The hosts, India, look like the favourites to lift the trophy with the home crowd potentially playing an important role. Under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, India will hope to bring the World Cup home after 12 years.

Latest odds to win Cricket World Cup 2023, as of September 2023.

Click HERE to make your bet in India

Click HERE to make your bet in Australia

Click HERE to make your bet in the UK

Team India Odds (Dafabet) Australia Odds (Unibet) UK Odds (BetOnSports)
India 3.40 3.30 9/4
England 4.25 4.25 3/1
Australia 5.50 5.00 9/2
Pakistan 8.00 7.50 13/2
New Zealand 11.00 10.00 8/1
South Africa 12.00 11.00 9/1
Bangladesh 34.00 19.00 33/1
Sri Lanka 34.00 26.00 40/1
Afghanistan 51.00 51.00 50/1
Netherlands 501.00 501.00 300/1

Vishakha Deshpande

Vishakha Deshpande Photo

Vishakha Deshpande is a content producer for The Sporting News.