Reviewed by Praise Dumi DhlakamaZimbabwe sports betting writer
Published 29 August 2026
Zimbabwe is one of three hosts of the next fifty over World Cup, alongside South Africa and Namibia, from 4 October to 21 November 2027, and the tournament arrives with a format nobody has played before.
Fourteen teams are in, up from ten. That expansion is what forced the redesign, because fourteen does not divide neatly into the pool structures the World Cup has used since the 1990s. The answer the ICC settled on is three stages rather than two.
Super Series, groups, Super Seven
The three lowest ranked of the fourteen play a round robin against each other first. One of them goes through. That leaves twelve, split into two groups of six, playing a thirty match round robin.
The top three from each group advance, and so does the best placed of the remaining teams across both groups, which makes seven. Those seven play another round robin, twenty one matches, called the Super Seven. The top four from that go to the semi finals, first against fourth and second against third.
The practical effect is that a side can lose early and still recover, because the group stage is a filter rather than a knockout, and the Super Seven resets nothing but carries everything forward.
The three Zimbabwean grounds
Zimbabwe stages matches at Harare Sports Club, at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and at the new Fale Mosi oa Tunya International Cricket Stadium in Victoria Falls, which was built for the tournament. South Africa carries eight venues and Namibia one, in Windhoek.
For Zimbabwe the significance runs past the fixtures. The country has staged its international cricket out of Harare and Bulawayo for decades, so a purpose built ground at Victoria Falls is a permanent addition rather than a tournament fitting. AXN Sports will follow the schedule and the qualifying picture as the ICC releases them.
Where to bet: World Cup markets open long before a tournament and outright prices on a fourteen team field move a great deal in the year before it starts. Africabet and Betway, both licensed by the Lotteries and Gaming Board, carry Chevrons markets with prices in United States dollars on match winner, top batsman and total runs, and they price outright and group markets once the draw is known. Compare the two books rather than taking the first number, because the margin on a long range outright is wider than on a single match. Our guide to the best betting sites in Zimbabwe covers licensing and withdrawal times, and there is more in Zimbabwe cricket news from AXN Sports. 18+. Gamble responsibly.
