Cricket's governing bodies have confirmed the group structure for the 2027 Men's 50-over World Cup, and England will not meet either Australia or India before the knockout stages. Harry Brook's side land in Group B alongside co-hosts South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and a qualifying nation, for a tournament spanning October 2 to November 21 across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
How the groups were shaped
Group A brings together defending champions Australia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, co-host Zimbabwe and a qualifier - a pool heavy with past winners and finalists. Group B, England's section, pairs three former champions (England, Australia's 2019 final opponents New Zealand, and hosts South Africa) with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and a late qualifying entrant. The seeding keeps the two nations with the deepest historical rivalry, Australia and India, together early, setting up a repeat of the 2023 final in Cape Town on October 7, preceded by three qualifying fixtures to settle the last open spot.
India and Pakistan, kept apart in bilateral cricket for political reasons, are drawn in the same group and meet in Johannesburg on October 10 - a fixture that reliably draws global attention regardless of where the teams sit in the standings.
England's path through the group stage
England open against Bangladesh in Windhoek on October 8, return to the same venue five days later to face Sri Lanka, then shift south to Gqeberha for a meeting with hosts South Africa on October 16. A trip to Harare follows for the qualifier game on October 20, before the group campaign closes back in Gqeberha against New Zealand on October 23 - a rematch of the boundary-countback final that gave England their first ODI World Cup in 2019.
- October 8: vs Bangladesh, Windhoek
- October 13: vs Sri Lanka, Windhoek
- October 16: vs South Africa, Gqeberha
- October 20: vs Qualifier, Harare
- October 23: vs New Zealand, Gqeberha
The top three from each group, plus the best fourth-placed side, progress to a Super 7 phase. The top four from that stage reach semi-finals on November 17 and 18 in Cape Town and Centurion, with the final in Johannesburg on November 21.
Why the draw matters beyond the fixtures
Major ICC events of this scale carry weight well beyond the cricket itself. Broadcasters, sponsors and advertising partners build campaigns around marquee fixtures, and a group stage that keeps Australia, India and Pakistan apart from England reshapes the commercial calendar for the tournament's early weeks. For the betting and media industries tracking the event, the India-Pakistan fixture and the Australia-India opener will carry disproportionate attention and wagering interest compared with group matches involving lower-ranked qualifiers - a pattern typical of global cricket tournaments, where audience and market activity cluster around a small number of historically charged contests.
That concentration of interest brings familiar responsible-gambling considerations. Spikes in attention around high-profile fixtures tend to coincide with increased promotional activity from betting operators, and regulators across cricket-following markets have repeatedly stressed the need for clear odds disclosure, age verification and affordability checks during such peaks. None of this guarantees particular outcomes or returns for bettors; tournament cricket remains unpredictable by nature, and the draw itself - co-hosted across three nations with long travel distances between venues - adds logistical variables that can affect team form and, by extension, market behavior in ways no system can reliably forecast.