Eight teams have directly qualified for the Cricket World Cup 2023 with South Africa becoming the last of the sides to secure direct entry to the showpiece 50-over tournament after a washout between the Irish and Bangladesh in the first ODI of their three-match series between the countries in Ireland.
South Africa’s qualification for the World Cup as the last side to secure direct entry was confirmed after a 2-0 triumph over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka’s unsuccessful series away from home against New Zealand.
New Zealand topped the World Cup Super League table with 175 points in 24 games to qualify for the tournament and defending champions England with 155 points from 24 matches finished second in the standings.
India finds itself third in the points table and automatically for World Cup 2023 as the host nation.
The other four countries that have directly qualified for World Cup 2023 are Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
The five teams that are in the World Cup Super League but haven’t earned automatic qualification for World Cup 2023 are West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands.
These five teams, though, will get a second shot at qualifying for the World Cup when they will cross paths with five associate nations at the World Cup Cricket Qualifier.
The five associate countries that will compete in the Qualifier in Zimbabwe, starting June 18 are the USA, UAE, Nepal, Oman, and Scotland.
Only two of the 10 countries participating in the World Cup Cricket Qualifier will eventually qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
The two bottom-placed teams in the Super League Table - Zimbabwe and the Netherlands - will square off immediately in the Qualifier.
Meanwhile, Nepal, Oman, and Scotland made it to the Qualifiers by virtue of being the top three teams in League 2.
UAE and the USA, on the other hand, recovered from underwhelming showings in League 2 and progressed to the Qualifer by ensuring top-two finishes during the Qualifer-Playoff in April.
ICC World Cup 2023 qualified teams
New Zealand
England
India
Bangladesh
Pakistan
Australia
Afghanistan
South Africa
Photo credit: Alamy
