ICC Men's Cricket World Cup
Cricket · International Cricket Council (ICC)
Also called: ICC Cricket World Cup, the 50-over World Cup, CWC
The Men's Cricket World Cup is the world championship of one-day (50-over) cricket for men's national teams, first played in England in 1975 and first won by the West Indies.
- Next
- 2 October to 21 November 2027, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia; 14 teams
- Most titles
- Australia, 6 (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015, 2023)
- India
- 2 titles (1983, 2011); 4 finals (1983, 2003, 2011, 2023)
- Cycle
- Roughly every four years
Editions
India on the podium
Scores are runs/wickets, with overs in brackets.
2027to be played, final on 21 November 2027Hosts: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia
- Final venue
- Johannesburg
- Teams
- 14
2023Runner-upWonAustralia 241/4 (43)Result of the final: Australia won by 6 wickets · Runners-up: India 240 all out (50) · Hosts: India
- Final venue
- Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
- Winning captain
- Pat Cummins
- Teams
- 10
2019WonRunner-upEngland 241 all out (50); Super Over 15Result of the final: Match tied, Super Over tied, England won on boundary count (26 to 17) · Runners-up: New Zealand 241/8 (50); Super Over 15 · Hosts: England, Wales
- Final venue
- Lord's, London
- Winning captain
- Eoin Morgan
- Teams
- 10
2015WonRunner-upAustralia 186/3 (33.1)Result of the final: Australia won by 7 wickets · Runners-up: New Zealand 183 all out (45) · Hosts: Australia, New Zealand
- Final venue
- Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Winning captain
- Michael Clarke
- Teams
- 14
2011WonRunner-upIndia 277/4 (48.2)Result of the final: India won by 6 wickets · Runners-up: Sri Lanka 274/6 (50) · Hosts: India, Sri Lanka; Bangladesh
- Final venue
- Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- Winning captain
- MS Dhoni
- Teams
- 14
2007WonRunner-upAustralia 281/4 (38)Result of the final: Australia won by 53 runs (D/L) · Runners-up: Sri Lanka 215/8 (36) · Hosts: West Indies
- Final venue
- Kensington Oval, Bridgetown
- Winning captain
- Ricky Ponting
- Teams
- 16
2003Runner-upWonAustralia 359/2 (50)Result of the final: Australia won by 125 runs · Runners-up: India 234 all out (39.2) · Hosts: South Africa, Kenya; Zimbabwe
- Final venue
- Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
- Winning captain
- Ricky Ponting
- Teams
- 14
1999WonRunner-upAustralia 133/2 (20.1)Result of the final: Australia won by 8 wickets · Runners-up: Pakistan 132 all out (39) · Hosts: England, Scotland; matches also in Wales, Ireland and the Netherlands
- Final venue
- Lord's, London
- Winning captain
- Steve Waugh
- Teams
- 12
1996Runner-upWonSri Lanka 245/3 (46.2)Result of the final: Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets · Runners-up: Australia 241/7 (50) · Hosts: India, Sri Lanka; Pakistan
- Final venue
- Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
- Winning captain
- Arjuna Ranatunga
- Teams
- 12
1992Runner-upWonPakistan 249/6 (50)Result of the final: Pakistan won by 22 runs · Runners-up: England 227 all out (49.2) · Hosts: Australia; New Zealand
- Final venue
- Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Winning captain
- Imran Khan
- Teams
- 9
1987WonRunner-upAustralia 253/5 (50)Result of the final: Australia won by 7 runs · Runners-up: England 246/8 (50) · Hosts: India, Pakistan
- Final venue
- Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- Winning captain
- Allan Border
- Teams
- 8
1983WonIndia 183 all out (54.4)Result of the final: India won by 43 runs · Runners-up: West Indies 140 all out (52) · Hosts: England; Wales
- Final venue
- Lord's, London
- Winning captain
- Kapil Dev
- Teams
- 8
1979Runner-upWest Indies 286/9 (60)Result of the final: West Indies won by 92 runs · Runners-up: England 194 all out (51) · Hosts: England
- Final venue
- Lord's, London
- Winning captain
- Clive Lloyd
- Teams
- 8
1975Runner-upWest Indies 291/8 (60)Result of the final: West Indies won by 17 runs · Runners-up: Australia 274 all out (58.4) · Hosts: England
- Final venue
- Lord's, London
- Winning captain
- Clive Lloyd
- Teams
- 8
The 2023 final was played on 19 November 2023. Dates of the other finals are not in the pages read and are left out. No ICC page was read for it, so it is not in the table.
Where the ICC page gives a total and a margin can be worked out, it was: 286 less 194 is 92 (1979), and 183 less 140 is 43 (1983). The 1975 overs figure follows from "eight balls remaining of their 60 overs".
Winning captains. 1975 to 2007 from the ICC's 2009 article on the winning captains; 2011 to 2023 from two secondary reports each, as no ICC page read lists them: 2011 and 2015, 2019, 2023. Clive Lloyd and Ricky Ponting are the only captains to have lifted the trophy twice; no captain since 2009 has won it twice (from the table).
India at the World Cup
India have played all 13 editions and have qualified for 2027. Titles in 1983 and 2011; runners-up in 2003 and 2023. India hosted or co-hosted in 1987, 1996, 2011 and 2023, the last as sole host for the first time.
| Year | India's finish |
|---|---|
| 1975 | Group stage |
| 1979 | Group stage |
| 1983 | Champions |
| 1987 | Semi-finals |
| 1992 | 7th |
| 1996 | Semi-finals |
| 1999 | 6th |
| 2003 | Runners-up |
| 2007 | Group stage |
| 2011 | Champions |
| 2015 | Semi-finals |
| 2019 | Semi-finals |
| 2023 | Runners-up |
WP
More about this tournament
Successful teams
Semi-final places are not counted here: they are not in the checked rows.
| Team | Titles | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 6 (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015, 2023) | 2 (1975, 1996) |
| India | 2 (1983, 2011) | 2 (2003, 2023) |
| West Indies | 2 (1975, 1979) | 1 (1983) |
| England | 1 (2019) | 3 (1979, 1987, 1992) |
| Sri Lanka | 1 (1996) | 2 (2007, 2011) |
| Pakistan | 1 (1992) | 1 (1999) |
| New Zealand | 0 | 2 (2015, 2019) |
History
How it began
The first World Cup was played in England in 1975 with eight teams, 60 overs an innings and a red ball. The West Indies won the first two, both at Lord's, with Clive Lloyd as captain.
How the format changed
The tournament moved from two groups and a knockout to a double round robin in 1983, a 50-over game in 1987, a single league of nine in 1992, a Super Six stage from 1999 and a 16-team event with a Super Eight in 2007. Since 2019 ten teams have played each other once before the semi-finals. In 2027 the field returns to 14 teams with three rounds before the semi-finals. Each edition is in the format table below.
Champions by era
After the West Indies' two titles, four different teams won the next four: India (1983), Australia (1987), Pakistan (1992) and Sri Lanka (1996), the first hosts to win. Australia then won three in a row (1999, 2003, 2007), lost in the 2011 quarter-finals to India, and won again in 2015 and 2023. England won their first title in 2019 after a tied final and a tied Super Over.
India's story
India had won one match in the first two tournaments before beating the West Indies at Lord's in the 1983 final. Their captain Kapil Dev later said the win "changed the face of Indian cricket". India lost the 2003 final to Australia. In 2011 they won the title at home in Mumbai, the second hosts to win on home soil. In 2023 they lost the final to Australia in Ahmedabad.
Firsts and facts
- First edition: 1975, England; first champions: the West Indies.
- First held outside England, and the first over 50 overs: 1987, India and Pakistan.
- First with coloured clothing, and the first hosted in Australia: 1992.
- First 12-team tournament, and the first won by a host: 1996, Sri Lanka.
- First hat-trick of titles: Australia, 1999, 2003 and 2007.
- First final decided on boundary count, after a tie and a tied Super Over: 2019.
- Captains with two titles: Clive Lloyd (1975, 1979) and Ricky Ponting (2003, 2007).
- First time India was the sole host: 2023.
The format changed from edition to edition
WP The overs for 1979 and 1992 follow from the results table. A blank means no source read says.
| Year | Overs | Format as the ICC describes it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 60 | Groups (the winners played three group matches), then semi-finals and a final | ICC-STORY |
| 1979 | 60 | Two groups of four, then semi-finals and a final (group winners and runners-up); 15 matches | WP (uncited) |
| 1983 | A "new double round-robin group stage", then the knockout matches | ICC-STORY | |
| 1987 | 50 | Groups, then a final between two group qualifiers; "the first 50-over tournament" | ICC-STORY |
| 1992 | 50 | One league of nine teams (36 matches), then semi-finals and a final for the top four; 39 matches | WP (uncited) |
| 1996 | "The first 12-team tournament" | ICC-STORY | |
| 1999 | Group stage, a "new Super Six stage", then semi-finals and a final | ICC-STORY | |
| 2003 | Group stage, Super Six, semi-finals and a final | ICC-STORY | |
| 2007 | "The new 16-team format saw four groups of four", then a Super Eight stage, semi-finals and a final | ICC-STORY | |
| 2011 | Quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final after the group stage | ICC-STORY | |
| 2015 | Group stage, then knockout matches | ICC-STORY | |
| 2019 | 50 | Ten teams in a single round robin; the top four to semi-finals; a final | ICC-2023, ICC-STORY |
| 2023 | 50 | Ten teams, each playing the others once; two points for a win, one each for a no-result; the top four to semi-finals; a final | ICC-2023 |
| 2027 | Three rounds before the semi-finals. Round 1, the Super Series: the three lowest-ranked of the 14 teams play a round robin and the winner goes on. Round 2: twelve teams in two groups of six, each a single round robin. Then a seven-team stage (the release calls it "Super Sevens"), semi-finals and a final. 57 matches | ICC-SCHED27 |
Links to the system pages: round robin, group stage and play-offs, single elimination, tie-breaks in a table.
Scorecard links for the finals
All thirteen are on ESPNcricinfo (the older ones on itsaus.cricinfo.com archive address, which redirects to www.cricinfo.com). Two were tried on 2026-10-07 (1975 and 2023) and both returned "403 Forbidden" to an automated request. That was not worked around.
The file names of the older links carry the dates of the finals: 21 June 1975, 23 June 1979, 25 June 1983, 8 November 1987, 25 March 1992, 17 March 1996, 20 June 1999 and 23 March 2003. The scorecards themselves were not read.
Wikidata IDs of the editions
1975 Q1139930 · 1979 Q1139927 · 1983 Q1139931 · 1987 Q1139939 · 1992 Q1139945 · 1996 Q1139943 · 1999 Q1139952 · 2003 Q1139957 · 2007 Q1127675 · 2011 Q911295 · 2015 Q1139964 · 2019 Q476709 · 2023 Q16057443 · 2027 Q65406641