Ireland's Path To World Cup 2027 Explained [Source: AFP]Ireland's first ODI against Afghanistan in Bready on Wednesday morning ended in a washout. This was a massive blow for the Irishmen, as it resulted in a direct miss of qualification for the ICC Men's World Cup 2027 in Africa.Afghanistan are currently on a five-match ODI series tour of Ireland, scheduled from August 5 to 15. The much-anticipated first ODI between the ICC full members also marked the hosts' return to ODI cricket since May 2025.In preparation, all top stars from the country had gathered in a three-team Inter-Provincial Cup earlier in July, exhibiting the importance of the series.Ireland miss out on direct qualification to World Cup 2027The cutoff for direct qualification is September 30, 2026, and to meet the criteria, the ICC Full Members need to be among the top-8 ranked sides in the world, excluding the hosts (South Africa and Zimbabwe).Ireland were ranked 12th ahead of the series, meaning they needed a 5-0 whitewash and West Indies to lose 0-2 to India before the cutoff date. This would have helped them surpass Zimbabwe, West Indies and Afghanistan in the rankings.Now, with the whitewash impossible, the result of the India-West Indies series would not matter for Ireland, and they will need to go down the long route to find a place in the World Cup.Also Read: BCCI At Crossroads Over Rohit Sharma In India’s World Cup 2027 SquadHow can Ireland qualify for the 2027 World Cup?Following the lost opportunity to reach the World Cup without the extra grind, Ireland will have to take part in the 10-team qualifying tournament from February 22 to March 23, 2027. The venues are yet to be officially announced.In this competition, the two bottom-placed ICC full members will be joined by the top-4 teams from the Cricket World Cup League 2 and four teams from the World Cup Qualifier Playoff.The aforementioned Qualifier Playoffs will be played between the bottom four CWC League 2 teams and top-4 four teams from the Challenge League (the division below CWC League 2).The following are the routes for Ireland to reach ICC mega event:Win the World Cup 2027 QualifierFinish in positions 2 to 4 and contest in Round 1 of the World Cup to reach the main draw of 12 teams.The last time Ireland played the World Cup was in 2015, and missing out on another event as a full member will be a massive jolt to their spirits.Which teams apart from Ireland will play the qualifier?Currently, only the hosts, South Africa and Zimbabwe, have already gotten a ticket to the World Cup, regardless of their rankings. This is the first time since 2015 that Zimbabwe will play in the World Cup main event, having failed to qualify in 2019 and 2023.Apart from these two nations, the teams for the 2027 World Cup have not been officially confirmed. However, as per the criteria, it is a matter of the cutoff date for most teams for their direct qualification to be official.Either 9th-ranked Bangladesh or 10th-ranked West Indies will play the Qualifiers in February and March 2027. In 2023, Sri Lanka had to go through this process to reach the main tournament and the West Indies had missed their flight, following a dramatic loss against the Netherlands.USA is one of the four CWC League 2 teams to have confirmed their place in the Qualifiers alongside the Irish. The Netherlands and Scotland are among the frontrunners to reach the qualifying tournament as well.Also Read: Jos Buttler Predicts Only Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Can Break His World Record
