2003 Cricket World Cup - Participating Countries

Participating Countries

14 teams played in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, the largest number of teams to play in a Cricket World Cup at the time. The 10 Test playing nations automatically qualified for the tournament, while Kenya, despite not having Test status, also automatically qualified due to their full ODI status. The other 3 spots were filled by a qualifying tournament, the ICC Trophy which was held in Canada in 2001. The teams which qualified from this tournament were the Netherlands (winner), Namibia (runner-up) and Canada (3rd place). While Namibia made their Cup debut in this tournament, for the Netherlands and Canada it was the 2nd time they were playing in the Cup, having made their Cup debuts in 1996 and 1979 respectively.

The 1999 Cricket World Cup format was retained, where in the first round, the participating countries were divided into two groups of seven teams. The top three from each group qualified for the Super Sixes, carrying forward the results they had achieved against other qualifiers from their group into the Super Sixes round. The top four teams in the Super Sixes round qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches played the final.