ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Everything you need to know

The Cricketing World witnessed the ICC T20 World Cup this year in June, which took place in the West Indies and the USA. The next edition of the T20 World Cup will take place in 2026, while the ODI World Cup is scheduled for 2027. But, before that, the fans are awaiting to witness the comeback of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which is also known as the mini-world Cup. As per the official schedule, the tournament is scheduled to take place in Pakistan, across three venues. 

However, the recent standoff between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board has raised a lot of concerns over its future. The last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy took place in 2017. There were calls to scrap the tournament after that, however, it is, once again, making a comeback with Pakistan hosting next year, while India will host the event in 2029. 

Everything you need to know about ICC Champions Trophy 2025: 

Which are the teams participating in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025? 

Earlier, the teams were selected based on the ICC rankings six months before the start of the competition. However, for the upcoming edition, the top seven teams, along with the host Pakistan, at the end of the league stage in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 secured their spots. 

The eight teams participating in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025  are India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, England, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and New Zealand. 

What is the format of the tournament? 

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be played in the round-robin format. The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four teams each. Each team will play their opposition once before the top two teams of both groups will progress into the semis.

As per the original schedule, the entire tournament is scheduled to take place in Pakistan, including the semi-final and the final. 

ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Schedule 

Which country will host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025? 

Pakistan is officially the host for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Friday, December 15, signed the hosting rights for the Champions Trophy 2025 with the International Cricket Council (ICC). However, due to the current standoff between BCCI and the ICC, the tournament might be shifted to a different country or a hybrid model will be implemented. 

What is ICC Champions Trophy? 

It’s basically a shorter version of the ICC ODI World Cup. Usually, the ODI World Cup takes place for around a month, while the ICC Champions Trophy culminates in around two weeks. 

The last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy was conducted between 1st and 18th June 2017. Pakistan won the event after beating India in the final. Also, the number of teams has been reduced to eight. 

Which is the most successful team in the ICC Champions Trophy? 

For the unversed, the first edition of the ICC Champions Trophy took place in 1998 in Bangladesh. South Africa won the edition after beating West Indies in the final. Australia and India are the two most successful teams in the competition. 

Both teams have two ICC Champions Trophy titles to their name. Besides, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan won it once each. Pakistan are currently the defending champions, having won the competition in the 2017 edition.  

What led to the start of the ICC Champions Trophy- A glimpse into the history 

The idea behind starting the ICC Champions Trophy 2024 was to raise funds for the development of the game in non-Test-playing nations. The first two editions took place in Bangladesh and Kenya. 

In the first edition, it was known as the ICC Knockout Trophy before being changed to the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002. From 2002 onwards, the tournament has only taken place in ICC full-member nations and the number of teams participating has also been reduced to eight.