Ireland to play Cricket World Cup Qualifier as first Afghanistan ODI washed out

BREADY: The Ireland men's cricket team will now have to feature in the Qualifier to earn entry into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027 as their home ODI series opener against Afghanistan here at the Bready Cricket Club was washed out without the toss.

Ireland, placed 12th in the ICC Men's ODI team rankings, needed to clean sweep Afghanistan 5-0, besides wanting West Indies to lose their first two matches against India before the cutoff date on September 30 to surpass Zimbabwe, West Indies and Bangladesh in the rankings and earn direct qualification to the mega event.

But the abandonment of their home series opener against Afghanistan drew the curtains on their hopes of direct qualification, with the European side now set to play the 10-team qualifying event, the winner of which will be slotted directly into the main round of the World Cup 2027.

Whereas the teams finishing second, third and fourth in the Qualifier will compete in the preliminary round of the World Cup, dubbed the Super Series, the top team from which will advance into the main 12-team stage.

For the unversed, the 10-team Qualifier will feature two bottom-ranked Full Members in the ODI rankings other than co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe as of September 20, 2026, and the top four teams each from the CWC League 2 World Cup Qualifier Playoff.

Notably, the Playoff will feature the bottom four teams from CWC League 2 alongside as many sides from the Challenge League. Although the format for the Playoff is yet to be decided, it is expected to be staged ahead of the World Cup Qualifier.

The Challenge League, however, will feature 12 teams divided into two groups of six, with each side set to play three round-robin tournaments over the cycle, following which the top two teams from each pool will move on to the World Cup Qualifier Playoff.

It is pertinent to mention that Ireland had failed to qualify for the Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 as they were knocked out in the Super Six stage of the Qualifier for the previous edition.