England return to one-day international action again Sri Lanka this week, knowing another poor ODI year could put them at risk of embarrassingly missing out on automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup.
New Zealand’s first ODI series sweep over England since 1983 back in November capped another disappointing 50-over campaign for Harry Brook’s side, who lost 11 of their 15 matches in the format across 2025.
It was a sixth ODI series defeat in seven for England, who have only won eight of their 26 matches since a dismal display – and early exit from their title defence – at the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India.
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England start their three-match ODI series with Sri Lanka in Colombo on January 22, before further matches at the same venue on January 24 and January 27, with both Brook and head coach Brendon McCullum facing questions over their future after another Ashes drubbing in Australia.
“We won’t be taking these games [against Sri Lanka] lightly at all,” Brook said ahead of the series. “We want to go out there and win and play our best cricket. Every tour we go on we want to try to win. Every game we want to win.
“We’ve got a big series coming up here against a strong side in their own conditions and it’s good preparation before the T20 World Cup. We just haven’t been consistent enough and haven’t performed to the best of our ability enough.
“We’ve probably struggled with the aggressiveness of the way we want to play. It’s about capitalising on good starts.”
Brendon McCullum (right) and Harry Brook (left) will hope to see an improvement quickly in England’s fortunes
The next 50-over World Cup will be held in October and November 2027 across three countries – South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, with England’s place in the expanded 14-team tournament currently far from certain.
How does World Cup qualification work?
South Africa and Zimbabwe both automatically qualify as hosts that are full ICC members, along with the top eight teams – excluding the hosts – in the ICC men’s ODI rankings at the end of March 2027.
Those rankings are performance-based, with a complex system developed on how points are allocated, but essentially winning series – or at least matches – will help a team improve their rating.
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The remaining four spots will then be filled from the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, taking place in summer 2027, where the next two teams in the men’s rankings go up against the top four from Cricket World Cup League Two and the top four teams from the Qualifier Play-Off.
Where are England in the rankings and who is challenging them?
England currently sit – as of January 20 – eighth in the ODI rankings, below India, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Afghanistan.
They are currently in the seventh qualification place, due to South Africa being hosts, although could drop out of the automatic spots should the West Indies and Bangladesh – the next two in the rankings – both move above them before the March 2027 cut-off.
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Co-hosts Zimbabwe (11th) are already in the World Cup, while Ireland (12th) are next in the standings but unlikely to move above England during that period.
How long have England been struggling in ODIs?
England finished seventh of 10 teams at the 2023 World Cup, where they sat bottom of the standings – and were set to miss out on ICC Champions Trophy qualification – until winning their final two group matches.
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They lost two ODI series in the West Indies either side of a 3-2 series defeat to Australia, with no 50-over cricket played on home soil during 2024, then were swept 3-0 by India ahead of a group-stage exit at the ICC Champions Trophy.
A first ODI series win in two years came when they started the 2025 summer with a 3-0 sweep of the West Indies, although they then lost to South Africa at home in September before their 3-0 loss in New Zealand.
How tough is England’s upcoming ODI schedule?
England have three ODIs in Sri Lanka in the next week, before series of the same length in the summer against India (July) and Sri Lanka (September).
Further three-match ODI series are scheduled in Australia (November 2026) and South Africa (winter 2026/27), with every scheduled series before the World Cup qualification cut-off point against a team ranked higher than England in the ODI rankings.
Bangladesh, in contrast, have three home ODI series in the first half of 2026 before away trips to Zimbabwe and Ireland – both below them in the ICC Rankings. The West Indies play Bangladesh separately twice over the next 18 months along with several home series to boost their points.
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What if England do miss out on automatic qualification?
England have featured in every 50-over World Cup as an automatic qualifier but would drop into the Cricket World Cup Qualifier for the first time, where Ireland and Scotland could both be potential opponents.
Although England would be favourites to be among the four teams to progress, the event would impact their 2027 schedule and likely hamper preparations for them hosting Australia in the Ashes later that summer.
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