Reporting snapshot · 2 October 2026. The International Cricket Council published the full schedule for the 2027 Men's Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia on Wednesday, 1 October, and opened the ticket ballot the same day. Pakistan, India and defending champions Australia were drawn into Group A; England, co-host South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and a qualifier form Group B. Pakistan open against Afghanistan in Tshwane on 8 October 2027 and meet India in Johannesburg on 10 October 2027, before a new Super 7 stage and a 21 November final at the Wanderers. The tournament starts with a three-team Super Series in Windhoek on 2 October 2027. This account is built from the ICC's own schedule and group announcement, from the Geo News report of the wire copy and from the BBC Sport story on the group-stage draw. It is a dated snapshot of the schedule as published on 1 October 2026; any subsequent ICC revision, qualifying-outcome change or venue update is not.
What the ICC announced
The ICC released the schedule and group composition for the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup on Wednesday, 1 October, with chairman Jay Shah describing the announcement and the opening of the ticket ballot as “major milestones” before a tournament staged across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The 14-team event opens with a three-team Super Series at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek on 2 October 2027 and ends with the final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on 21 November 2027 (reserve day 22 November). Twelve venues will be used: the Windhoek ground plus three in Zimbabwe and eight in South Africa.
The 14 teams were split after South Africa and Zimbabwe qualified automatically and the eight highest-ranked sides on the ICC Men’s ODI rankings at the 30 September 2026 cut-off took the remaining direct slots. The last four places will be settled at a qualifier, with the top finisher going straight into the group stage and the other three competing in the Super Series for a final group-stage berth.
The two groups named by the ICC are:
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
| India | New Zealand |
| Australia | South Africa |
| Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| Afghanistan | England |
| Zimbabwe | Bangladesh |
| Qualifier A | Qualifier B |
The Group Stage opens on 7 October 2027 with a repeat of the 2023 final between Australia and India in Cape Town. Co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe begin their campaigns on 9 and 11 October respectively.
Pakistan’s group and fixtures
Pakistan’s path through the group stage is heavy on travel and on Indian opposition. The side opens against Afghanistan in Tshwane on Friday, 8 October 2027, then meets a qualifier in Potchefstroom on Friday, 15 October. The headline fixture — India in Johannesburg on Sunday, 10 October — falls in the middle of the group stage, before matches against Zimbabwe in Harare (Tuesday, 19 October) and Australia in Paarl (Friday, 22 October). The India–Zimbabwe fixture at the new Mosi-oa-Tunya ground in Victoria Falls on 24 October closes the group stage.
Under the ICC’s pre-published Super 7 seeding, Pakistan is allocated the A3 slot. That carries a fixed opening fixture on 26 October against the seeded B1 team, currently New Zealand, in Gqeberha, and a further meeting with the seeded AB4 team (currently England) in Victoria Falls on 30 October. Other pre-allocated Pakistan fixtures under the seeded plan include a match against the seeded B3 side (Sri Lanka) on 10 November in Bloemfontein, the second India–Pakistan match of the tournament in Cape Town on 7 November, and a closing group match against the seeded A2 team (Australia) on 13 November in Bloemfontein.
Geo News and the ICC’s own schedule page both publish the full Pakistan match list. KhabarWire’s 1 October 2026 piece on Pakistan’s run to the Asian Games cricket final is the closest recent cricket context; the 28 September quarter-final washout round out the picture of how often the two sides have been paired in ICC events.
What is genuinely new: the Super 7 stage
The 2027 edition formalises a Super 7 stage that replaces the older Super Six and Super Eight formats. The top three teams from each group, plus the better fourth-placed side, advance to a seven-team phase. None of the group-stage points carry over, so each qualifying side plays six fresh matches between 25 October and 14 November 2027. The top four go into the semi-finals — first plays fourth at Newlands on 18 November (Cape Town), second plays third at SuperSport Park on 19 November (Tshwane) — with reserve days built in.
The ICC has pre-seeded seven teams into fixed Super 7 positions to give advance clarity over venues and travel: A1 India, A2 Australia, A3 Pakistan, AB4 England, B1 New Zealand, B2 South Africa and B3 Sri Lanka. The ICC states that the pre-seeding preserves fixture certainty for fans; if a seeded team does not qualify, the team that takes its place inherits the seeded fixture. So, for example, if Bangladesh qualify and Sri Lanka do not, Bangladesh would take B3 and face Australia on the Super 7 opening day in Johannesburg.
The schedule does not yet record opponents from the 19 to 20 group stage fixtures against Zimbabwe in Harare and against a qualifier in Potchefstroom in the same narrative. That is because those Pakistan matches remain in the group stage rather than the Super 7.
Why the draw matters for Pakistan
Pakistan’s Group A is, on paper, the harder of the two. The group pairs Pakistan with the top-ranked side in the world (India), the defending champions (Australia) and a fellow Full Member (Afghanistan), with only one qualifier slot to navigate. By contrast, Group B contains co-hosts South Africa and three Full Members who sit below Pakistan in the ODI rankings at the cut-off — New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — together with England and a qualifier. The Super 7 seeding softens the blow: if Pakistan finish among the top three in Group A, the A3 slot pairs them against the seeded B1 team (currently New Zealand) in the opening fixture on 26 October and against the seeded AB4 team (currently England) on 30 October, both of which are familiar Full-Member opponents rather than the seeded top two.
The October 2027 India–Pakistan match in Johannesburg will be the first meeting between the two at a 50-over World Cup since the 2023 edition at Ahmedabad, which India won by 48 runs in front of more than 90,000 spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The Wanderers, the announced venue for the 2027 fixture, hosted the 2003 final.
Tickets, schedule cadence and what remains uncertain
The ICC opened a ticket ballot on 1 October 2026, the same day as the schedule announcement. Entry-level tickets start at R158 (about USD 9.40 at current rates), with the highest tier at R514 (about USD 30.50); the ICC has also published family, student, pensioner, early-bird and community pricing. Tickets will be allocated by ballot rather than by first-come-first-served.
Two structural items remain open. First, the three Super Series sides in Windhoek on 2, 4 and 6 October 2027 are not yet identified; they will emerge from the Cricket World Cup Qualifier. Second, the seeded Pakistan fixtures listed above are conditional on Pakistan qualifying from its group and on the seeded sides qualifying from theirs. Pakistan’s opening match against Afghanistan in Tshwane is the only Group A fixture the ICC currently lists for Pakistan’s first match day.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 2 October 2026.
- Primary source — ICC: Fixture schedule announced for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 20271 October 2026 · The ICC's own publication of the full schedule, group composition, Super 7 seeding and ticket-ballot opening, used as the primary record for the announcement.
- Independent source — Geo News: Pakistan, India placed in same group as ICC announces 2027 World Cup schedule1 October 2026 · Pakistan-recognised outlet carrying the full schedule, including all Pakistan-India dates and the Jay Shah quote; used as the independent Pakistan-anchored report.
- Independent source — BBC Sport: England avoid Australia & India in World Cup draw1 October 2026 · National newspaper of record; confirms the group composition, the 10 October Pakistan-India date, the 21 November final and the Super 7 progression rule.
