Dubai: FIFA Football World Cup 2026 is going to start today from 12.30 pm Indian time. And the day before that, there was a big glimpse of the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2027 schedule. The World Cup cricket season is going to start from October next year. The tournament is going to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. According to sources, the Cricket World Cup season is going to start from October 4. This tournament will continue till November 21. That is, the final match is scheduled to take place on November 21. However, the schedule has not been announced officially by the ICC.

The ODI Cricket World Cup was last held on African soil in 2003. Then in 2027, after 24 years, the One Day World Cup will be held in Africa. However, the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2009 Champions Trophy and the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup were held in Africa. Zimbabwe and Namibia also co-hosted the Under-19 Men’s World Cup.

The report that revealed the possible schedule for the World Cup said that South Africa will host most of the matches in the tournament. Even out of 54 matches, 41 matches will be played in eight venues. Zimbabwe will host a total of 10 matches across three venues. The World Cup matches will be held at Victoria Falls, Harare Sports Club and Queen’s Stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

The previous two World Cups had a total of 10 teams in the tournament. But this year tournament will be in 14 team format. The teams will be divided into two groups of seven each. Where the top three teams from each group will advance to the Super Six stage. South Africa and Zimbabwe will automatically qualify as full members, while Namibia will have to go through the qualification process.

Football World Cup can be seen for free

Indian football lovers can also watch football world cup matches for free. But it has some conditions. DD Sports has taken over the responsibility of telecasting the World Cup matches. But one thing to know here is that not all matches will be shown. The opening match will be telecast live today. Then all the matches of the quarter finals will be seen. After that, the semi-final and the final can be seen for free on official channels.