ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier

ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier
AdministratorInternational Cricket Council
FormatOne-Day International
First edition1979
Tournament formatMultiple (refer to article)
Number of teams10 (since 2014-2023) 12 (as of 2026)
Current champion Sri Lanka (2nd title)
Most successful Zimbabwe (3 titles)
Qualification
Cricket World Cup
  • 1979 (2 berths)
  • 1982–90 (1 berth)
  • 1994–2001 (3 berths)
  • 2005 (5 berths)
  • 2009 (4 berths)
  • 2014–23 (2 berths)
  • 2026–30 (4 berths)[1]
Most runsUnited Arab Emirates Khurram Khan (1,369)
Most wicketsNetherlands Roland Lefebvre (71)

The Cricket World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the qualification process for the Cricket World Cup. It is usually played in the year before the World Cup. Although the tournament has used a variety of different formats, a final qualification event has been a feature of every World Cup since 1979.

From 1979 to 2001, all associate members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) were eligible to participate in the ICC Trophy. Regional qualification was introduced for the 2005 ICC Trophy – the final tournament to bear that name – with the World Cricket League (WCL) introduced in 2007. Until 2015, automatic qualification was granted to all full members of the ICC. However, for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, only the top eight teams in the ICC ODI Championship were given automatic qualification, meaning ICC full members played in the Qualifier for the first time. The WCL was discontinued in 2019, with qualification for the World Cup Qualifier instead determined by a series of leagues including the Super League, League 2 and Challenge League.[2]

The number of qualifying berths available from the World Cup Qualifier currently stands at two for the 2023 event, but has varied from a minimum of one (1982, 1986, 1990) to a maximum of five (2005). Zimbabwe is the most successful team, having won three consecutive titles between 1982 and 1990, while Scotland and Sri Lanka are the only other teams to have won multiple titles. Historically performance at the World Cup Qualifier has been a key determinant for elevation to full membership of the ICC and Test status, with Sri Lanka (1981), Zimbabwe (1992) and Bangladesh (2000) being awarded full membership after ICC Trophy wins.

In September 2018, the ICC confirmed that all matches in the ICC World Cup Qualifier will have ODI status, regardless if a team does not have ODI status prior to the start of an individual tournament event.[3][4]

Results

[edit]
Year Host nation Final venue Winner Margin Runner Up
1979  England Worcester  Sri Lanka
324-8 (60 overs)
60 runs
Scorecard
 Canada
264-5 (60 overs)
1982  England Leicester  Zimbabwe
232-5 (54.3 overs)
5 wickets
Scorecard
 Bermuda
231-8 (60 overs)
1986  England London  Zimbabwe
243-9 (60 overs)
25 runs
Scorecard
 Netherlands
218 all out (58.4 overs)
1990  Netherlands The Hague  Zimbabwe
198-4 (54.2 overs)
6 wickets
Scorecard
 Netherlands
197-9 (60 overs)
1994  Kenya Nairobi  United Arab Emirates
282-8 (49.1 overs)
2 wickets
Scorecard
 Kenya
281-6 (50 overs)
1997  Malaysia Kuala Lumpur  Bangladesh
166-8 (25 overs)
2 wickets
(D/L method)
Scorecard
 Kenya
241-7 (50 overs)
2001  Canada Toronto  Netherlands
196-8 (50 overs)
2 wickets
Scorecard
 Namibia
195-9 (50 overs)
2005 Ireland Ireland Dublin  Scotland
324-8 (50 overs)
47 runs
Scorecard
 Ireland
277-9 (50 overs)
2009  South Africa Centurion  Ireland
188-1 (42.3 overs)
9 wickets
Scorecard
 Canada
185 all out (48 overs)
2014 New Zealand New Zealand Lincoln  Scotland
285-5 (50 overs)
41 runs
Scorecard
 United Arab Emirates
244-9 (50 overs)
2018 Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Harare  Afghanistan
206-3 (40.1 overs)
7 wickets
Scorecard
 West Indies
204 all out (46.5 overs)
2023 Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Harare  Sri Lanka
233 all out (47.5 overs)
128 runs
Scorecard
 Netherlands
105 all out (23.3 overs)
2026

Leaderboard

[edit]
Teams reaching the top four
Team Titles Runners-up Third place Fourth place
 Zimbabwe 3 (1982, 1986, 1990) 1 (2018) 1 (2023)
 Scotland 2 (2005, 2014) 2 (1997, 2023) 2 (2001, 2018)
 Sri Lanka 2 (1979, 2023)
 Netherlands 1 (2001) 3 (1986, 1990, 2023) 2 (1994, 2009)
 Ireland 1 (2009) 1 (2005) 1 (1997)
 United Arab Emirates 1 (1994) 1 (2014)
 Bangladesh 1 (1997) 1* (1990) 1 (1982)
 Afghanistan 1 (2018)
 Canada 2 (1979, 2009) 2 (2001, 2005)
 Kenya 2 (1994, 1997) 1* (1990) 1 (2009)
 Bermuda 1 (1982) 1* (1979) 3 (1986, 1994, 2005)
 Namibia 1 (2001)
 West Indies 1 (2018)
 Denmark 2 (1979*, 1986)
 Papua New Guinea 1 (1982) 1 (2014)
 Hong Kong 1 (2014)
  • No play-off for third place was held at the 1979 and 1990 tournaments – teams defeated in the semi-finals are deemed to have shared third place and are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Teams' performances

[edit]
Legend
  • Teams that qualified for the World Cup due to their performance in a particular edition are underlined.
  • AQ – Team received automatic qualification to the World Cup, so did not participate in the Qualifier
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • SF – Losing semi-finalist (no third-place play-off)
  • R1, R2 – First round, second round (no further play-offs)
  • PO – Team lost in an inter-round play-off (2001 only; ranked 9th–10th)
  • × – Qualified, but withdrew
Team 1979 1982 1986 1990 1994 1997 2001 2005 2009 2014 2018 2023
England England England Netherlands Kenya Malaysia Canada Ireland South Africa New Zealand Zimbabwe Zimbabwe
Africa
 Kenya R1 R1 SF 2nd 2nd AQ 4th 5th
 Namibia Ineligible R1 15th 2nd 7th 8th 6th
 Uganda Ineligible PO 12th 10th 10th
 Zimbabwe 1st 1st 1st AQ 3rd 4th
Americas
 Argentina R1 × R1 R1 R1 21st R1
 Bermuda SF 2nd 4th R1 4th 9th PO 4th 9th
 Canada 2nd R1 R1 R2 R2 7th 3rd 3rd 2nd 8th
 United States R1 R1 R1 R2 R1 12th 7th 10th 10th
 West Indies AQ 2nd 5th
Asia
 Afghanistan Ineligible 5th AQ 1st AQ
 Bangladesh R1 4th R1 SF R2 1st AQ
 Hong Kong R1 R1 R1 R2 8th R1 3rd 10th
 Malaysia R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 16th R1
   Nepal Ineligible R1 9th 8th 8th
 Oman Ineligible 9th 11th 6th
 Singapore R1 R1 × R1 19th 14th R1
 Sri Lanka 1st AQ 1st
 United Arab Emirates Ineligible 1st 10th 5th 6th 7th 2nd 6th 9th
East Asia - Pacific
 Fiji R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 11th R1
 Papua New Guinea R1 3rd R1 R2 R1 13th R1 11th 4th 9th
Europe
 Denmark SF × 3rd R2 R1 5th 6th 8th 12th
 France Ineligible R1
 Germany Ineligible R1
 Gibraltar R1 R1 R1 20th 19th R1
 Ireland Ineligible R2 4th 8th 2nd 1st AQ 5th 7th
 Israel R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 22nd R1
 Italy Ineligible 19th ×
 Netherlands R1 R1 2nd 2nd 3rd 6th 1st 5th 3rd 7th 7th 2nd
 Scotland Ineligible 3rd 4th 1st 6th 1st 4th 3rd
Defunct teams
 East Africa R1 R1 R1 ICC membership ceased
 East and Central Africa R1 18th 17th R1 ICC membership ceased
 West Africa R1 17th 18th × ICC membership ceased
 Wales R1 Invited as a guest team for the 1979 tournament; never an ICC member

Tournament records

[edit]

Team records

[edit]

Highest innings totals

[edit]
Score Batting team Opposition Venue Date Scorecard
455/9 (60 overs)  Papua New Guinea  Gibraltar Cannock & Rugeley Cricket Club, Cannock, England 18 June 1986 Scorecard
425/4 (60 overs)  Netherlands  Israel Old Silhillians, Solihull, England 18 June 1986 Scorecard
408/6 (50 overs)  Zimbabwe  United States Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe 26 June 2023 Scorecard
407/8 (60 overs)  Bermuda  Hong Kong Griff and Coton Ground, Nuneaton, England 13 June 1986 Scorecard
404/9 (60 overs)  United States  East and Central Africa Sportpark de Dennen, Nijmegen, Netherlands 8 June 1990 Scorecard
Updated: 26 June 2023[5]

Lowest innings totals

[edit]
Score Batting team Opposition Venue Date Scorecard
26 (15.2 overs)  East and Central Africa  Netherlands Royal Military College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 24 March 1997 Scorecard
32 (19 overs)  United States  Kenya University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 30 March 1997 Scorecard
41 (20.4 overs)  Fiji  Scotland Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City, Canada 28 June 2001 Scorecard
41 (15.1 overs)  Oman  Papua New Guinea Drummond Cricket Club, Limavady, Northern Ireland 5 July 2005 Scorecard
44 (27.1 overs)  Gibraltar  Kenya Royal Military College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 27 March 1997 Scorecard
Updated: 7 April 2023[6]

Individual records

[edit]

Most runs

[edit]
Rank Runs Innings Batsman Team Span
1 1,369 33 Khurram Khan  United Arab Emirates 2001–2014
2 1,173 24 Maurice Odumbe  Kenya 1990–1997
3 1,048 32 Steve Tikolo  Kenya 1994–2014
4 1,040 18 Nolan Clarke  Netherlands 1990–1994
5 916 18 Ed Joyce  Ireland 2001–2018
Updated: 7 April 2023[7]

Highest individual score

[edit]
Rank Runs Batsman Batting team Opposition Venue Date Scorecard
1 175 Calum MacLeod  Scotland  Canada Hagley Oval, Christchurch, New Zealand 23 January 2014 Scorecard
2 174 Sean Williams  Zimbabwe  United States Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe 26 June 2023 Scorecard
3 172 Simon Myles  Hong Kong  Gibraltar High Town, Bridgnorth, England 11 June 1986 Scorecard
4 170* David Hemp  Bermuda  Uganda Senwes Park, Potchefstroom, South Africa 13 April 2009 Scorecard
5 169* Rupert Gomes  Netherlands  Israel ACC Ground, Amstelveen, Netherlands 4 June 1990 Scorecard
Updated: 26 June 2023[8]

Most wickets

[edit]
Rank Wickets Matches Bowler Team T20I career span
1 71 43 Roland Lefebvre  Netherlands 1986–2001
2 63 26 Ole Mortensen  Denmark 1979–1994
3 50 27 John Blain  Scotland 1997–2009
4 48 30 Aasif Karim  Kenya 1986–1997
5 44 23 Pacer Edwards  Bermuda 1986–1994
Updated: 7 April 2023[9]

Best bowling figures

[edit]
Rank Figures Bowler Bowling team Opposition Venue Date Scorecard
1 7/9 (7.2 overs) Asim Khan  Netherlands  East and Central Africa Royal Military College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 24 March 1997 Scorecard
2 7/19 (8.4 overs) Ole Mortensen  Denmark  Israel Impala Sports Club, Nairobi, Kenya 24 February 1994 Scorecard
7/21 (8 overs) Bhawan Singh  Canada  Namibia Nairobi Club Ground, Nairobi, Kenya 14 February 1994 Scorecard
4 7/23 (9.2 overs) Ashraful Haq  Bangladesh  Fiji Water Orton, Birmingham, England 24 May 1979 Scorecard
5 6/11 (6.5 overs) Bharat Gohel  Hong Kong  Fiji Knowle and Dorridge Cricket Club, England 27 June 1986 Scorecard
Updated: 7 April 2023[10]

By tournament

[edit]
Year Player of the final Player of the tournament Most runs Most wickets
England 1979 Sri Lanka Duleep Mendis (221) Canada John Vaughan (14)
England 1982 Bermuda Colin Blades (310) Bermuda Elvin James (15)
England 1986 Canada Paul Prashad (533) Netherlands Ronnie Elferink (23)
Netherlands 1990 Zimbabwe Andy Flower Netherlands Nolan Clarke (523) Zimbabwe Eddo Brandes (18)
United Arab Emirates 1994 United Arab Emirates Mohammad Ishaq Netherlands Nolan Clarke (517) Papua New Guinea Fred Arua (19)
Namibia Gavin Murgatroyd (19)
Malaysia 1997 Kenya Steve Tikolo Kenya Maurice Odumbe Kenya Maurice Odumbe (517) Kenya Aasif Karim (19)
Netherlands Asim Khan (19)
Bangladesh Mohammad Rafique (19)
Canada 2001 Netherlands Jacob-Jan Esmeijer Netherlands Roland Lefebvre Namibia Daniel Keulder (366) Netherlands Roland Lefebvre (20)
Denmark Søren Vestergaard (19)
Ireland 2005 Scotland Ryan Watson Netherlands Bas Zuiderent Netherlands Bas Zuiderent (474) Scotland Paul Hoffmann (17)
Netherlands Edgar Schiferli (17)
South Africa 2009 Ireland Trent Johnston Netherlands Edgar Schiferli Bermuda David Hemp (557) Netherlands Edgar Schiferli (24)
New Zealand 2014 Scotland Preston Mommsen Scotland Preston Mommsen United Arab Emirates Khurram Khan (581) Hong Kong Haseeb Amjad (20)
Zimbabwe 2018 Afghanistan Mohammad Shahzad Zimbabwe Sikandar Raza Zimbabwe Brendan Taylor (457) Afghanistan Mujeeb Ur Rahman (16)
Zimbabwe 2023 Sri Lanka Dilshan Madushanka Zimbabwe Sean Williams Zimbabwe Sean Williams (600) Sri Lanka Wanindu Hasaranga (22)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Qualification pathway for 14-team 2027 men's ODI World Cup approved". ESPNcricinfo. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^ "The road to World Cup 2023: how teams can secure qualification, from rank No. 1 to 32". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  3. ^ "ICC awards Asia Cup ODI status". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  4. ^ "All Asia Cup matches awarded ODI status". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Records / ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (ICC Trophy) / Highest Totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Records / ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (ICC Trophy) / Lowest Totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Records / ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (ICC Trophy) / Most Runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Records / ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (ICC Trophy) / High Scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Records / ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (ICC Trophy) / Most Wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Records / ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (ICC Trophy) / Best Bowling Figures in an Innings". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.