England suffered a thumping loss to South Africa in the opening ODI of their September series, and have slipped to eighth in the ICC team rankings. Their record in the format is now putting them in danger of missing out on automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup.
The 2019 world champions have won just seven of their 21 ODIs since the 2023 World Cup. That includes their disastrous group stage exit from the Champions Trophy earlier this year, as well as their series defeat to India. In the same timeframe, England's win percentage (0.3) is the worst of any side who qualified for the last World Cup apart from Bangladesh, and no side has lost more matches.
Despite beating the West Indies in their first series under Harry Brook's leadership in May this year, England are now ranked eighth in the world in ODIs by the ICC, four points below Afghanistan and 37 points from top-ranked India. If their trend of poor results continue, they are at serious risk of missing out of automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup.
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How does qualification for the 2027 World Cup work?
The 2027 tournament will feature 14 teams, an expansion from the 10 who have made the main competition for the last two editions. Instead of the round-robin format where every team plays each other once before two semi-finals and a final, the 14 teams will be split into two groups of seven, with the top three in each group progressing to a Super Six stage.
The tournament is set to be hosted by South Africa and Zimbabwe and Namibia, with the first two of those nations gaining automatic qualification. Namibia, who are not a full member nation, will have to go through the standard pathway to win qualification. The eight top-ranked teams excluding South Africa and Zimbabwe on March 31, 2027, will then automatically qualify.
ICC Men's ODI rankings - 04/09/2025
| Position | Team | Matches | Points | Rating |
| 01 | India | 36 | 4,471 | 124 |
| 02 | New Zealand | 38 | 4,160 | 109 |
| 03 | Australia | 35 | 3,717 | 106 |
| 04 | Sri Lanka | 41 | 4,235 | 103 |
| 05 | Pakistan | 35 | 3,493 | 100 |
| 06 | South Africa | 33 | 3,284 | 100 |
| 07 | Afghanistan | 25 | 2,279 | 91 |
| 08 | England | 35 | 3,051 | 87 |
| 09 | West Indies | 35 | 2,814 | 80 |
| 10 | Bangladesh | 32 | 2,465 | 77 |
| 11 | Zimbabwe | 24 | 1,291 | 54 |
| 12 | Ireland | 18 | 938 | 52 |
If the qualification cut-off was made today (September 4, 2025), England would make it as the seventh qualifier out of eight.
Are England in danger of missing out on automatic qualification?
While there are still 18 months for England to change their ODI fortunes around and put a healthier gap between their rank and the qualification cut off point, they have some tough assignments coming up. Before the Ashes, they will face No.2 ranked New Zealand in three ODIs away from home, before travelling to Sri Lanka for three more before the T20 World Cup. That series might see England short of some of their frontline multi-format players, given that it starts two weeks after the Ashes is scheduled to end.
England have won just 7 of their 21 ODIs since the 2023 World Cup.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 3, 2025
They are currently eighth in the ICC Men's ODI team rankings and could be in danger of missing out on direct qualification for the 2027 edition 😐 pic.twitter.com/StE3ZHW4ax
Their home 50-over summer next year will seem them play three matches against a formidable India outfit, with a tri-series in Pakistan as well as a bilateral series against Australia waiting in the winter. Every one of England's ODI series between the end of the 2025 home summer and the cut off point for 2027 World Cup qualification, is against a team ranked in the top six of the ODI rankings.
To make matters worse, those currently below them in the rankings have assignments which are less tough on paper. West Indies will face Bangladesh in two separate series over the next 18 months, and they will face Afghanistan shortly before the cut off point. Bangladesh have two series against Ireland to come, as well as five ODIs against Zimbabwe. If both of those two overtake England, they'll struggle to meet the first round of qualification criteria.
How can England still qualify if they miss the automatic cut off?
Even if they do slip out of the top eight sides (excluding South Africa and Zimbabwe) by March 2027, because of the tournament's expanded format, they will still more than likely be at the World Cup. As long as they stay in the next two top ranked teams, which they probably do given the current rating gap between Zimbabwe in 11th and Bangladesh in 10th, they will qualify directly for the Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
The Qualifier will feature 10 teams in total, with the top four teams from CWC League Two – currently USA, Netherlands, Scotland and Oman – and the top four teams from the Qualifier Play-Off making up the tournament. From that tournament, the top four teams will qualify for the World Cup. However, while England would expect to progress from that tournament, an extra event to kick off an Ashes summer is something they will want to avoid if at all possible.
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