With one site in Sri Lanka and eight countries competing in India as hosts, the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 is ready to get underway. For some, the road started long earlier to guarantee their spot in the competition, but the action starts on September 30 and ends on November 2 in the final.
Each side earned a spot in the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in the following ways:
India, the hosts, was automatically guaranteed a spot as they welcomed the world for the fourth time. In addition to hosting in 1978 and 1997, they most recently did it in 2013, and they will be hoping that their familiar surroundings will help them win their first-ever championship.
Five teams that qualified based on their final standings in the ICC 2022-2025 Women’s Championship have joined them. Due to their performances in three years of international matches involving the top ten teams in the globe, the top five ranked teams—aside from hosts India—were granted direct entry.
With only three losses in their 24 games, defending champions Australia finished first in the standings, while runners-up England from 2022 came in third place, behind India. Australia is vying for their ninth championship after winning it back in 2022, while England last won the trophy at home in 2017.
New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and South Africa all obtained their qualifications in the same way. South Africa has been semi-finalists in the last two editions, while New Zealand, who defeated Australia in 2000 to win their lone title, last advanced to the final in 2009. After missing out on the 2022 tournament in New Zealand, Sri Lanka is back at the table.
Six teams competed for the two berths that remained at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 Qualifier in Pakistan in April. Scotland and Thailand joined the bottom four teams from the Women’s Championship—Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ireland, and the West Indies—for a round-robin tournament, from which the top two teams would advance to the World Cup.
The hosts Bangladesh defeated the West Indies on net run rate to advance in dramatic fashion, while Pakistan won all five of their games to qualify in style. The Windies couldn’t get to their total in time to secure the second qualifying slot, but the Tigresses had to wait anxiously as the West Indies played Thailand in the final game.
With Bangladesh finishing seventh in their World Cup debut and Pakistan placing eighth in 2022, neither of the qualifying teams has advanced to the elimination stages.
India
