With a dominating victory over Ireland in the second ODI, Afghanistan have directly qualified for the ODI World Cup 2027 along with nine other teams.
Ireland, on the other hand, are out of the direct qualification race. Their chances had already taken a major hit after the first ODI of the series was washed out.
Afghanistan then strengthened their position with a 92-run win in the second ODI, where Rashid Khan produced a brilliant bowling performance and picked up six wickets.
The result has made the Afghanistan World Cup 2027 Qualification scenario clear, with the team now assured of finishing inside the direct qualification places.
🚨Good News for Afghanistan 🚨
They have officially qualified for The 2027 ODI World Cup after defeating Ireland in 2nd ODI 🏏 pic.twitter.com/U5kGUsKws1
— CricInformer (@CricInformer) August 8, 2026
How Does World Cup 2027 Qualification Work?
The ODI World Cup 2027 will be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. However, all three hosts do not receive automatic qualification.
South Africa and Zimbabwe are guaranteed places as Full Member hosts. Namibia, on the other hand, will have to go through the qualification pathway to earn a place in the tournament.
Apart from South Africa and Zimbabwe, the eight highest-ranked eligible teams in the ICC ODI Rankings at the qualification cut-off will directly qualify for the World Cup.
This made the ranking battle between teams such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, West Indies and Ireland extremely important.
West Indies Fell Behind in the Qualification Race
West Indies were also involved in the race for direct qualification. However, they recently lost the ODI series against New Zealand 1-2, which seriously damaged their chances.
The ICC ODI Rankings will be considered at the September 30 cut-off. West Indies have only two ODIs left to play before then, and both matches are against India.
This makes their chances of climbing into the direct qualification places extremely difficult.
As a result, Bangladesh are also set to secure their direct place in the World Cup.
Even if West Indies win both their remaining ODIs against India, they cannot leapfrog Afghanistan in the rankings before the cut-off. This has confirmed Afghanistan’s place at the 2027 World Cup.
What Did Ireland Need to Qualify Directly?
Ireland faced a very difficult task going into the series against Afghanistan.
They needed to win the five-match ODI series 5-0 and also required other results to go in their favour to keep their direct qualification hopes alive.
However, the first ODI was washed out. With a 5-0 series victory no longer possible, Ireland were effectively knocked out of the direct qualification race.
However, Ireland can still reach the ODI World Cup 2027 through the qualification pathway.
They will now have to go through the qualifying tournament and finish in the required qualification positions to book a place in the main event.
Rashid Khan Takes Six as Afghanistan Beat Ireland by 92 Runs
Afghanistan made their position even stronger with a convincing victory in the second ODI.
Batting first, Afghanistan posted 299/8 in 47 overs. Ireland needed a strong batting performance in response but failed to build the partnerships required for such a chase.
And then came Rashid Khan.
The Afghanistan star once again showed why he remains one of the most dangerous spin bowlers in international cricket.
Rashid finished with outstanding figures of 6/34 from 7.4 overs, completely dismantling Ireland’s middle and lower order.
Ireland were eventually bowled out for 207 in 33.4 overs as Afghanistan registered a comfortable 92-run victory.
Afghanistan World Cup 2027 Qualification Confirmed
With the win over Ireland, Afghanistan have confirmed their position at the ODI World Cup 2027.
Neither Bangladesh, West Indies nor Ireland can now push Afghanistan out of the direct qualification positions in the ICC ODI Rankings before the September 30 cut-off.
This makes Afghanistan World Cup 2027 Qualification confirmed and gives the Asian side another opportunity to compete against the best teams in world cricket.
Afghanistan’s qualification is another big achievement for a team that has improved rapidly in ODI cricket over the last few years.
They were one of the most impressive teams at the 2023 ODI World Cup and defeated England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during the tournament.
Their performances over the last few years have shown that Afghanistan can no longer be considered an easy opponent, especially with match-winners like Rashid Khan in the side.
ICC ODI World Cup 2027: List of Qualified Teams
South Africa and Zimbabwe have qualified automatically as Full Member co-hosts.
The other eight teams have secured their places through the direct qualification route based on the ICC ODI Rankings.
The 10 teams to have qualified directly for the ICC ODI World Cup 2027 are:
- South Africa (co-hosts)
- Zimbabwe (co-hosts)
- India
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka
- England
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
The ODI World Cup 2027 will feature a total of 14 teams.
This means four more teams will eventually join these 10 sides through the remaining qualification pathway.
Teams such as West Indies, Ireland and Namibia will now have to take the qualification route if they want to reach the main tournament.
