ICC Champions Trophy is a big cricketing contest just like the Cricket World Cup, with the format being played in the form of One-Day Internationals. However, the difference between the Champions Trophy and the World Cup is that the matches in the Champions Trophy are scheduled over a period of two and a half weeks. Hence it is considered a short cricket tournament, unlike the Cricket World Cup which can last for over a month. Meanwhile, cricket fans are curious to learn more about ICC Champions Trophy 2025 qualification rules.
Apart from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 qualification rules, let’s also take a glimpse at the teams that have qualified for the tournament and the hosts of the competition in this article. Australia and India are the most successful teams in the competition as they won the Champions Trophy twice.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 qualification rules
Since 2009, as many as 8 teams have played in two groups of four in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals. If a team loses even a single game, they will be shown the exit door from the competition. As per the current rules set by the International Cricket Council, as many as 15 games are played in the tournament. Talking about the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 qualification rules, the teams that finish in the top eight along with the hosts in the ICC World Cup 2023 would qualify for the Champions Trophy.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Qualified Teams
As things stand, six teams have qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 – Pakistan, India, South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan and New Zealand. The aforementioned teams have accumulated 4 or more wins, meaning 8 or more points. As a result, they are assured of the top 8 finish in the World Cup 2023 points table.
With six teams making the cut, two more spots are still remaining and it remains to be seen which teams will qualify for the Champions Trophy. Netherlands, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and England are left out. These four teams will be giving absolutely everything to seal the seventh and eighth spots in order to qualify for the Champions Trophy.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 qualification rules for Netherlands, Bangladesh, England and Sri Lanka
The Netherlands need to beat both England and India to finish in the top eight, which is highly unlikely. However, they could still end up inside the top 8, if they manage to churn out one win out of the two games. Besides that, they will also have to expect Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to lose their last group-stage games of World Cup 2023 and hope England to lose one of their last two games.
On the other hand, if Bangladesh defeats Australia in the next game, it will take them to six points along with their improved Net Run Rate. Since the points and the Net Run Rate will be in Bangladesh’s favour if they beat the Aussies, they will finish inside the top 8. What if Bangladesh lose to Australia? If that’s the case then, they will have to rely on other match results to go in their favour – New Zealand should beat Sri Lanka, England or Netherlands should lose both their games.
England cricket team led by Jos Buttler were nowhere close to hitting the sweet spot in the World Cup 2023 as they ended up conceding defeats, more often than not. The Three Lions will have to win the next two games against the Netherlands and Pakistan by good margins. Even this scenario would rule them out since they have a terrible Net Run Rate. They will have to win both games by big margins and expect Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to lose their last game. If this scenario fails, then either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh should lose the next game and if the Netherlands lose to India, England could end up inside the top eight.
Sri Lanka will have to beat New Zealand and expect Bangladesh to surrender at the hands of Australia. Apart from that, Sri Lanka will have to rely on the result of the Netherlands as well. They will have to expect the Dutch to lose one of the two games. Since Sri Lanka have a poor Net Run Rate, the only way to finish inside the top eight is to take the game against New Zealand seriously and rely on other results to go their way.
ALSO READ: Meet The Pakistan Cricketer Who Will Be Eligible to Play IPL 2025
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 host country
For the record, Pakistan acquired the rights to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 as the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded the hosting rights to them two years ago. There is no confirmation whether India will travel to Pakistan to play in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The decision lies in the hands of the Home Ministry of India which will decide whether or not the Indian team will jet off to Pakistan to play in the tournament.