All of the top four spots that will secure a place in the knockout stage are still up for grabs, as we look at every side’s path to a semi-final berth at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
The race for a spot in the knockout stage of the Cricket World Cup 2023 remains wide open with all but one side still in contention, while no team has yet locked in their place in the semi-finals.
India is best-placed to clinch a semi-final spot following their six straight victories, as only Bangladesh have dropped out of contention.
South Africa, New Zealand and Australia join hosts India in the critical top-four spots at the moment, but with 14 group-stage matches still to play almost every team is still in the hunt.
Here is what each team needs to do – and the other results that have to go their way – to finish in the top four and qualify for the knockout stage:
- India
Wins: 6
Losses: 0
Net run rate: +1.405
Still to play: Sri Lanka (2 November), South Africa (5 November), Netherlands (12 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win at least one of three remaining matches to finish on 14+ points and be guaranteed qualification
* Win none of three remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than at least one of the four other teams (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Afghanistan) that can also reach 12 points
- South Africa
Wins: 5
Losses: 1
Net run rate: +2.032
Still to play: New Zealand (1 November), India (5 November), Afghanistan (10 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win at least two of three remaining matches to finish on 14+ points and be guaranteed qualification
* Win one of three remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than at least one of the four other teams (India, New Zealand, Australia, Afghanistan) that can also reach 12 points
* Win none of three remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than the many other teams that can also finish on 10 points
- New Zealand
Wins: 4
Losses: 2
Net run rate: +1.232
Still to play: South Africa (1 November), Pakistan (4 November), Sri Lanka (9 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win all three remaining matches to finish on 14 points and be guaranteed qualification
* Win two of three remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than at least one of the four other teams (India, South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan) that can also reach 12 points
* Win one of three remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than the many other teams that can also finish on 10 points
- Australia
Wins: 4
Losses: 2
Net run rate: +0.970
Still to play: England (4 November), Afghanistan (7 November), Bangladesh (11 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win all three remaining matches to finish on 14 points and be guaranteed qualification
* Win two of three remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than at least one of the four other teams (India, South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan) that can also reach 12 points
* Win one of three remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than the many other teams that can also finish on 10 points
- Pakistan
Wins: 3
Losses: 4
Net run rate: -0.024
Still to play: New Zealand (4 November), England (11 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win both remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than the many other teams that can also finish on 10 points
* Win one of two remaining matches, New Zealand and/or Australia lose all of their three remaining matches while Afghanistan lose at least two of their three remaining matches, and finish with a better net run rate than the many other teams that can also finish on 8 points
- Afghanistan
Wins: 3
Losses: 3
Net run rate: -0.718
Still to play: Netherlands (3 November), Australia (7 November), South Africa (10 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win at least one but ideally all three remaining matches to finish on as many as 12 points
* Increase net run rate by enough to overtake New Zealand, Australia and/or any other team that finishes on the same number of points
- Sri Lanka
Wins: 2
Losses: 4
Net run rate: -0.275
Still to play: India (2 November), Bangladesh (6 November), New Zealand (9 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win at least two but ideally all three remaining matches to finish on as many as 10 points
* Increase net run rate by enough to overtake New Zealand, Australia and/or any other team that finishes on the same number of points
* New Zealand and/or Australia need to lose at least two of their three remaining matches
- Netherlands
Wins: 2
Losses: 4
Net run rate: -1.277
Still to play: Afghanistan (3 November), England (8 November), India (12 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win at least two but ideally all three remaining matches to finish on as many as 10 points
* Increase net run rate by enough to overtake New Zealand, Australia and/or any other team that finishes on the same number of points
* New Zealand and/or Australia need to lose at least two of their three remaining matches
- Bangladesh
Wins: 1
Losses: 6
Net run rate: -1.446
Still to play: Sri Lanka (6 November), Australia (11 November)
Path to qualification:
* Can not qualify for knockout stage
- England
Wins: 1
Losses: 5
Net run rate: -1.652
Still to play: Australia (4 November), Netherlands (8 November), Pakistan (11 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win all three remaining matches to finish on 8 points
* Increase net run rate by enough to overtake New Zealand, Australia and/or any other team that finishes on 8 points
* New Zealand and/or Australia need to lose all three of their remaining matches
* No more than one of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands to finish on 10 points (ICC)