2025 ICC Champions Trophy: Dates, venues, history & how to watch

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy takes place in Pakistan next year and will be the ninth edition of the tournament.

It is contested by the top-eight ranked One Day International men's national teams and is organised by the International Cricket Council.

The upcoming edition is the first since 2017, and it was won by Pakistan. The competition was cancelled in 2016 by the ICC due to a desire then to have only one major tournament in each format of international cricket. 

It was thought the Champions Trophy was seen as too much of a rival to the ever-popular World Cup, which is also contested over the ODI format and held every four years.

However, in November 2021, it was announced that the tournament would return in 2025 with eight nations participating.

2025 ICC Champions Trophy dates

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled to last just three-and-a-half weeks. The competition begins on February 19th 2025 and is set to end with the final on March 9th.

2025 ICC Champions Trophy times

The start times of the matches in the tournament are yet to be announced.

2025 ICC Champions Trophy teams

Eight teams will assemble in Pakistan for the tournament, with all the world's top cricketing nations set to be involved.

Pakistan qualified for the competition automatically as hosts and will be joined by the seven other highest-ranked teams from the 2023 Cricket World Cup group stage - these being

England, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The 2025 edition is the first time former champions Sri Lanka, who jointly won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002, have failed to qualify, while Afghanistan will make their first appearance in the tournament after they impressed in last year's World Cup, winning four matches.

West Indies, who were winners in 2004, are the other notable absentees next year.

2025 ICC Champions Trophy venues

In April, it was announced three venues had been selected in three different cities by hosts Pakistan for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. 

Games are set to take place at the National Stadium in Karachi, the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. 

The final is expected to be played at the 27,000-capacity Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore with the two semis being staged in Karachi and Rawalpindi.

2025 ICC Champions Trophy how to watch

Full broadcast details for the tournament and start times for the matches have yet to be announced.

2025 ICC Champions Trophy history

Next year's tournament will be the ninth ICC Champions Trophy, which first took place in 1998.

It was originally known as the ICC Knockout that year in Bangladesh and also when it was staged in Kenya two years later.

South Africa were the inaugural winners, beating West Indies in the final, while New Zealand's sole triumph in this competition came in 2000.

The 2002 event was won jointly by India and Sri Lanka as rain washed out the final on two separate days so organisers had no option but to name both the two finalists as winners.

In 2004, in England, West Indies triumphed, beating the hosts in the final at The Oval, while Australia then won consecutive tournaments in 2006 and 2009.

After the competition was moved to every four years in 2013, India were the victors in England and Wales, while the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, which also took place in England and Wales, saw Pakistan win for the first time in 2017.

2025 ICC Champions Trophy format

The format for the competition sees the eight teams split into two groups of four, with each country playing the others in their group once to determine the winners and runners-up, who then advance to the semi-finals.

From there, it is a straight knockout of two semi-finals, with the winners of each last-four tie going through to the final.

Hosts Pakistan are in Group A, along with Bangladesh, India and New Zealand, while Group B is made up of England, Australia, South Africa and debutants Afghanistan.