Australia owns six Cricket World Cups since the 1975 debut
The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is cricket's flagship One Day International tournament, held every four years. England hosted the first in June 1975, only four years after the first ODI. Australia has six titles; India and West Indies two each; Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and England one apiece. Australia defended glory in India in 2023.
Thirteen editions have drawn twenty different teams; ten played in 2023. Qualification now spans three years before a roughly month-long finals hosting about ten sides including the hosts. 2027 heads to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia jointly, with the final stage expanding to fourteen teams. A women's World Cup actually preceded the men's by two years.
Before it, the only multilateral event had been the 1912 Triangular Tournament among England, Australia and South Africa, spoiled by a wet summer and thin crowds. The first three World Cups were staged in England; West Indies won in 1975, beating Australia by 17 runs at Lord's, and again in 1979, beating England by 92, after which the ICC agreed to hold the event every four years. India upset West Indies by 43 runs in 1983, a tournament that introduced a 30-yard fielding circle.
India and Pakistan co-hosted in 1987, the first edition outside England, and innings dropped from 60 overs to the current 50 because subcontinental days are shorter; Australia took that title by just 7 runs against England, a final margin not bettered for closeness until 2019. The 1992 event in Australia and New Zealand brought coloured clothing, white balls and day/night games, and marked South Africa's debut after apartheid ended. In the 1996 semi-final at Eden Gardens, crowd unrest handed Sri Lanka victory over India, and in 2003 Kenya reached the semi-finals, still the best finish by an associate nation.
Source: Cricket World Cup
