Bready [UK], August 6 (ANI): Ireland's hopes of securing direct qualification for the 2027 ICC Men's ODI World Cup came to an end after the opening ODI against Afghanistan was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain in Bready.

According to Cricinfo, the washout ruled out Ireland's slim mathematical chance of climbing into the automatic qualification places in the ICC men's ODI rankings before the September 30, 2026 cut-off date.

Ranked 12th in the ODI standings, Ireland needed to complete an unlikely 5-0 series whitewash over Afghanistan, while also relying on West Indies to lose both of their remaining ODIs against India, to leapfrog Afghanistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe in the rankings and seal direct qualification for the 2027 World Cup in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

With that possibility now gone, Ireland will have to qualify through the 10-team ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Under the qualification pathway, the winner of the Qualifier will book a direct place in the 12-team World Cup. The teams finishing second, third and fourth will advance to the World Cup Super Series, where they will compete for the final berth in the main tournament.

The Qualifier will feature the two lowest-ranked Full Member nations in the ODI rankings, excluding hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe, along with the top four teams from ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 and four teams emerging from the World Cup Qualifier Playoff.

The Playoff will include the bottom four teams from League 2 and four sides from the Challenge League. The top four teams from that competition will progress to the World Cup Qualifier.

The Challenge League itself comprises 12 teams split into two groups of six, with each group contesting three round-robin tournaments during the qualification cycle. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Playoff.

Ireland will be aiming to avoid a repeat of the disappointment they endured ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup, when they were eliminated in the Super Six stage of the Qualifier and missed out on a place in the tournament. (ANI)