Cricket World Cup 2027 schedule: India and Pakistan in same group with Johannesburg final set

The International Cricket Council has released the official schedule for the 2027 Men's Cricket World Cup, setting up an opening-week blockbuster between India and Pakistan in Johannesburg and a opening match that reprises the 2023 final.

Co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, the 14-team tournament will run from 2 October to 21 November 2027. The main group-stage action begins on 7 October in Cape Town, where India will face defending champions Australia.

Three days later, on 10 October, India will meet arch-rivals Pakistan at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Because the two sides do not play each other outside of global tournaments, the fixture is always the most anticipated of the group stage. The Wanderers will also host the final on 21 November.

The tournament format

Under a revised format, the tournament starts with a three-team "Super Series" in Windhoek, Namibia, on 2 October to decide the final spot in the main draw. From there, the 12 remaining teams are split into two groups of six.

Group A features India, Australia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and a qualifier. Group B contains South Africa, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the second qualifier.

England, who avoid India and Australia in the initial phase, will start their campaign against Bangladesh on 8 October in Windhoek. Notably, Harry Brook's side will travel to Harare to play a qualifier on 20 October. It will be England's first match in Zimbabwe since 2004, following decades of political tension and a boycott during the 2003 World Cup.

To progress, teams must finish in the top three of their groups, or be the best-performing fourth-place team. Those seven teams will advance to a new "Super 7" phase, playing a round-robin from 25 October to 14 November with no points carried over from the group stage.

Pre-seeded positions for fans

The ICC has pre-seeded several teams to give travelling fans some fixture certainty. For example, India is pre-seeded as A1, Australia as A2, and South Africa as B2. If a non-seeded team qualifies in their place, they will simply take over that seed's slot.

The top four from the Super 7s will make the semi-finals, scheduled for 17 November in Cape Town and 18 November in Tshwane, before the Johannesburg showpiece.

ICC Chairman Jay Shah called the announcement a major milestone on the road to 2027. "South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will provide an unforgettable stage for the world's best teams," Shah said, as the ICC opened the ticket ballot.

India, currently top of the ODI rankings, will be led by Shubman Gill, who took over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma in 2025. Gill recently led India to a historic run-chase against the West Indies, scoring an unbeaten 223 in Guwahati.