The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier is an international cricket tournament that serves as the final step of the qualification process for the Women's Cricket World Cup.
The Women's World Cup was first held in 1973, and for the first seven editions participation was determined solely by invitation, issued at the discretion of the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC).International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC): Fifteenth Meeting – Women's Cricket History. Retrieved 3 October 2015. A qualification tournament was first held in 2003 (for the 2005 World Cup), which was hosted by the Netherlands and won by Ireland.International Women's Cricket Council Trophy 2003 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 December 2015. Subsequent tournaments have been held in 2008, hosted by South Africa and won by Pakistan; in 2011, hosted by Bangladesh and won by the West Indies; in 2017, hosted by Sri Lanka and won by India; the abandoned 2021 edition hosted by Zimbabwe; and the 2025 edition hosted by Pakistan.ICC Women's World Cup Qualifying Series 2007/08 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 December 2015.ICC Women's World Cup Qualifying Series 2011/12 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
The inaugural event in 2003 was organised by the IWCC and branded as the IWCC Trophy. The IWCC was subsumed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2005, and all other editions have been known simply as the World Cup Qualifier. The number of teams and qualifying places has varied at each tournament – in 2003, six teams competed for two qualifying spots, while at the next edition (in 2008) eight teams contested two qualifying spots. The 2011 event, as well as 2021, saw ten teams compete for three qualifying places, and the 2017 tournament featured ten teams and four qualifying places. The 2011 and 2017 editions were also used to determine Women's ODI status, and the 2021 edition was originally intended to also decide entry to an expanded ICC Women's Championship; due to its abandonment, it was ultimately decided by rankings instead. The 2025 edition reverted to the same format as the 2003 edition.
Results YearHost(s)Final venueFinalWinnerResultRunner-up 2003 no final 10 points Ireland won on pointstable 8 points 2008 Stellenbosch 62/2 (13.4 overs) South Africa won by 8 wicketsscorecard 61 (24.3 overs) 2011 Dhaka 250/5 (50 overs) West Indies won by 130 runsscorecard 120 (37.3 overs) 2017 Colombo 245/9 (50 overs) India won by 1 wicketscorecard 244 (49.4 overs) 2021 Harare Tournament abruptly ended due to COVID-19 pandemic2025 no final 10 points Pakistan won on pointstable 6 points
Performance by team Legend – Champions – Runners-up – Third place Q – Qualified § – Team qualified for tournament, but withdrew or disqualified later × – Did not participate, already qualified for World Cup ×× – No further participation due to COVID-19 — Hosts Teams that qualified for the World Cup in a particular year are underlined
Team 2003(6) 2008(8) 2011(10) 2017(10) 2021(10) 2025(6) TotalAfrica × 1st 4th 2nd × × 3 — 5th 10th 8th ×× — 4Americas — 8th — — — — 1 — — 8th — ×× — 2 2nd × 1st × ×× 3rd 3Asia — — 5th 5th ×× 2nd 3 × × × 1st × × 1 4th 2nd 2nd 4th ×× 1st 4 × × 3rd 3rd ×× × 3 — — — 9th ×× 6th 2Europe 1st 3rd 6th 6th ×× 5th 5 3rd 4th 7th — ×× — 4 5th 6th — 7th — 4th 3East Asia - Pacific 6th — 9th — — — 2 — 7th — 10th § — 3
See also Cricket World Cup Qualifier (men's) Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier
References