West Indies lost the opportunity to directly qualify for the ODI World Cup 2027 after Afghanistan overtook it in the rankings post its three-wicket win over Ireland on Monday.

Afghanistan has now become the 10th and final team to secure a spot in the quadrennial tournament to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in November next year.

West Indies will now have to play the World Cup Qualifiers, set to take place in February 2027. The host is yet to be decided.

The team from the Caribbean had missed out on playing the 2023 ODI World Cup as well after it finished fifth in the Qualifiers. That was the first time it had missed a World Cup.

West Indies, ranked 10th, still has two more ODIs left before the cutoff date: September 30, 2026. However, it won’t be able to go past Afghanistan even if it wins both the games against India.

How Qualifiers work

Qualifiers is a 10-team tournament consisting of the two bottom-ranked full member nations (non-host), top four teams from World Cup League 2 and four teams from Qualifier Playoffs tournament.

Top four teams will qualify for the World Cup. While the top ranked team will directly play the round two, the next three will have to play a Super Series from which only one team will qualify. This new format change has received criticism from the associate nations.