How Many Countries Play Cricket in the World?

Cricket is no longer just popular in a few countries like England, India, and Australia. Over the years, it has grown into a sport loved by people across the world. As of 2025, cricket is played in more than 100 countries! With the International Cricket Council (ICC) making efforts to promote the game globally, more and more countries are taking an active part in international and domestic cricket events.

Not only do they look forward to becoming an important cricket-playing nation, but they also give their best shot at winning marquee cricket tournaments. In this article, let’s dive into the latest details about how many countries play cricket.

Total Number of Countries That Play Cricket in 2025

In 2025, there are a total of 108 countries that are members of the ICC and play this game. These are divided into Full Members, Associate Members, and (historically) Affiliate Members. Full Members are the top teams that play Test cricket. Associate Members are countries where cricket is growing but has not developed yet at the highest level. The Affiliate Member category was discontinued in 2017, but many of those nations are now Associate Members. Let's check how many countries play cricket in the world.

ICC Full Members (Test-Playing Nations)

These countries have the right to play Test matches, which is the longest format of cricket. A Test match is played for five days (maximum), and not all countries have the status to play this format. Most of the Test-playing nations also take part in major ICC tournaments regularly, like the ODI World Cup, World Test Championship, and the T20 World Cup. As of 2025, there are 12 Full Members of the ICC:

ICC Associate Members

There are a total of 96 Associate Members till 2025. These are the countries where cricket is played, but not at a huge level. However, the ICC is working hard towards the development of the game in these countries, and they have also shown some bright signs by competing with the bigger teams. Many Associate teams are becoming strong enough to beat Full Member teams in shorter formats like T20 and ODI. The ICC is giving special attention to these nations to further develop cricket. Most notably, the USA defeated Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024 in a huge upset. While it was seen as a downfall of Pakistan cricket, it also showed how the game has grown in the USA. Some well-known Associate Members include:

ICC Affiliate Members (Archived Category)

The ICC used to have a third category called Affiliate Members for countries where cricket was just starting. But in 2017, the ICC merged Affiliate Members into the Associate Members group. Countries like Brazil, China, and Argentina are former Affiliate Members that are now trying to make a mark in cricket.

How Many Countries Play in the Cricket World Cup?

The ICC Cricket World Cup is one of the biggest tournaments in sports. However, not every cricket-playing country gets to participate in this marquee event. Teams must go through several qualifying rounds to secure a place. Let's have a look at how many countries play in the cricket World Cup.

ODI World Cup 2023 Participating Nations

Earlier editions used to have more teams, but the ICC reduced the number to make the tournament more competitive. However, there are plans to expand the number of teams for future World Cups. In the most recent edition of the ODI World Cup in 2023, which was held in India, 10 teams participated:
India automatically qualified as the hosts while the other teams qualified based on rankings and the ODI World Cup qualifiers. Australia won the title after defeating the hosts India in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

T20 World Cup Expansion – More Teams, More Reach

T20 cricket is growing faster because it’s shorter and more exciting. The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and the West Indies hosted 20 teams for the first time. This included traditional teams like India and Australia, but also emerging teams like the USA, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea. T20 World Cup expansion has helped cricket reach new fans, especially in continents like America, Europe, and Africa. It shows how many countries play in the cricket World Cup in total.

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will also see a tournament with 20 teams competing for the spot of champions. This edition will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka, which made them directly qualified for the World Cup. There have been 13 spots fixed as of now to play in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, which includes the host countries, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies, USA, Pakistan, New Zealand, Ireland, and Canada. The remaining 7 spots will be filled through the qualifiers in different regions, which include 2 spots from the Africa region, 3 spots from the Asia/East Asia-Pacific region, and the other 2 spots from the Europe region. The countries that will fight for the spots include those that have played cricket at a higher level and shown results. This includes countries like the Netherlands, Scotland, Nepal, Oman, UAE, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Full List of Countries That Play Cricket

There was a time when cricket was just played by post-colonial countries, where the sport was left in the hearts of the people. In the past year, cricket has spread to a number of countries, and the craze for cricket is increasing day by day. Earlier, cricket playing countries were mainly limited to England, Australia and India but now there are more than 100 cricket playing countries across the globe which have been cricket. There are exactly 108 cricket playing countries, as of 2025, which are divided into specific regions and subdivided into full members and associate members. Here is the full list of countries that play cricket.