India has locked in a semi-final berth but the other three spots that will secure a place in the knockout stage are still up for grabs, as we look at every side’s hopes and qualification pathway 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 only the undefeated India clinching a place in the semi-finals so far, while every team other than Bangladesh are still in contention.
South Africa, New Zealand and Australia join hosts India in the critical top-four spots at the moment, but with 12 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: 7
Losses: 0
Net run rate: +2.102
Still to play: South Africa (5 November), Netherlands (12 November)
Path to qualification:
* Qualified
- South Africa
Wins: 6
Losses: 1
Net run rate: +2.290
Still to play: India (5 November), Afghanistan (10 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win at least one of their remaining two matches to finish on 14+ points and be guaranteed qualification
* Lose both their 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
- 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
- New Zealand
Wins: 4
Losses: 3
Net run rate: +0.484
Still to play: Pakistan (4 November), Sri Lanka (9 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win both their 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 their remaining two 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, Australia lose all of their three remaining matches, New Zealand lose their two 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: -1.162
Still to play: Bangladesh (6 November), New Zealand (9 November)
Path to qualification:
* Win two remaining matches to finish on as many as 8 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 need to lose both of their two remaining matches, and/or Australia 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 need to lose both of their two remaining matches, and/or Australia 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 need to lose both of their two remaining matches, and/or Australia lose at least two of their three remaining matches
* No more than one of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands to finish on 10 points (ICC)