England and West Indies will play a three-match ODI series starting on Thursday (May 29), which is crucial for their hopes of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup.
What is the pathway to the 2027 ODI World Cup?
A total of 14 teams will take part in the 2027 ODI World Cup. While South Africa and Zimbabwe gain direct entry as hosts, Namibia – despite being a co-host – do not enjoy the same privilege since they are not a Full Member.
Apart from them, eight teams will qualify based on their ODI rankings on the cut-off date of March 31, 2027. The remaining four teams will enter from a 10-team qualifier set to be held before the main tournament. The two teams right after the eight teams that will gain direct qualification based on rankings, will be part of the qualifying event.
Where do England and West Indies stand in the current race?
Apart from hosts South Africa – currently sixth in the ODI rankings – India, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, England, and West Indies make up the top eight right now and would have qualified directly for the World Cup if the cut-off date was May 29 (today).
As per the current rankings, the two teams set to compete in the 2027 World Cup Qualifier would be Bangladesh (10th) and Ireland (12th), since 11th-ranked Zimbabwe automatically qualify as hosts.
England and the West Indies could be in a precarious position because they currently occupy the eighth and ninth spots, the last two rankings for direct World Cup qualification (assuming one of the hosts are in the top eight like South Africa are right now).
Just three rating points separate the two sides (England at 84, West Indies at 81). A heavy defeat or a prolonged slump for either team could see them drop below Bangladesh (10th with 76 points). If they remain there by the cut-off date, they would risk entering the 10-team qualifier.
Since the start of the 2023 ODI World Cup, England have lost 19 out of the 26 ODIs they have played, the most by any team in the format. They faced successive group-stage elimination in the 2023 World Cup as well as the 2025 Champions Trophy, including defeats against Afghanistan. The poor run of form resulted in a change of leadership as Harry Brook is set to embark on his new journey as England’s white-ball skipper. England will likely still qualify, but even if they don’t, they would enter the qualifier, opening up the possibility of elimination from the World Cup race.
The West Indies, on the other hand, have struggled to secure qualification for ICC ODI events despite being a Full Member. They were forced to play the 2023 World Cup qualifier, where they bowed out after losing four of their five matches. This failure also cost them a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Their ODI decline has been prolonged: in 2019, they barely qualified for the World Cup in England, edging out Scotland in a rain-affected match by the narrowest of margins.
"Ever since we started this journey with World Cup 2027 in mind, automatic qualification is the first goal," West Indies head coach Darren Sammy said ahead of the first ODI. "Climbing up the rankings is the only way we could do that. We've made some strides from when we started. Right now we're No. 9, with England just ahead of us, by two or three points, and this series is very important."
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