ICC CONFIRMS qualification for 2025 Champions Trophy will be based on 2023 ODI World Cup

Teams like Ireland, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Nepal, etc, will miss out on the tournament as they did not qualify for the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup.

Pakistan are the current defending champions of the Champions Trophy (Image via ICC)

On 29th October, the ICC confirmed that the 8 teams that will participate in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy will be decided by the results of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. It has been reported by ESPNcricinfo that the top 7 teams and hosts Pakistan will participate in the Champions Trophy.

An ICC spokesman has confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the competition and the qualification method was approved in 2021. From the first edition till 2017, the qualifications were based on the top 8 teams of the ICC ODI team rankings.

Now the qualifications will be based on the World Cup results. The top 7 teams and Pakistan will qualify. Teams like Ireland, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Nepal, etc, will miss out on the tournament as they did not qualify for the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. Currently, Bangladesh and England are 9th and 10th in the Points table, with Netherlands and Afghanistan ahead of them,

Boards claim they were not informed of qualification process

ESPNcricinfo has reported that many boards were not informed of the qualification process. ICC Full members like West Indies, Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe will miss out of the tournament as they did not qualify for the World Cup. Meanwhile, one ICC Full member confirmed that they were aware of the new change and were informed by the ICC.

Ireland, West Indies, Zimbabwe — Teams like Ireland, West Indies and Zimbabwe will miss out on the 2025 Champions Trophy as they did not qualify for the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup (Image via ESPN)

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy will be played in the format used in 2013 and 2017. Eight teams were split into two groups, the top two from each group qualify for the semi-final and then winners play each other in the finals.

Pakistan, being the hosts, go directly into the tournament. If they do finish in the top 7, the team placed 8th will qualify. Shakib Al Hassan mentioned that finishing in the top 8 was important for Bangladesh after their loss to Netherlands. Shakib said that they need to aim for top 10 minimum so that they could participate in the Champions Trophy, but need to improve their performances as well.