Afghanistan seal 2027 World Cup berth, West Indies to go through qualifiers again

BELFAST: Afghanistan secured automatic ⁠qualification for the 2027 World Cup with a ​win over Ireland ​on Monday, leaving twice champions West Indies to go through qualifiers for the third successive edition of the 50-overs tournament.
The top eight teams in the one-day rankings on September ⁠30, excluding co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe, qualify ⁠directly for the event.
Afghanistan's win in Belfast ensured they will finish among those teams, joining Australia, India, New ‌Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England ​and Bangladesh.
The West ⁠Indies are ranked 10th and cannot ​make up enough ground ‌to qualify directly despite having two ODIs against India left to ​play before the cut-off date.
The Caribbean side failed to seal an automatic spot at the 2023 edition and lost in the qualifiers, resulting in their absence ‌from a men's 50-overs World Cup for the ​first time.
They successfully negotiated the qualifiers to play at ​the ‌2019 ⁠edition.
Under the new format for 2027, the winner of the qualifier will advance directly to ​the second stage of the World ⁠Cup, while ​the teams placing second, third and fourth will play in the first round known as the Super Series.
The 2027 event will be played in ​South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The ​full tournament schedule has yet to be released. — Reuters