Jos Buttler Admits Guilt as England’s 2027 World Cup Qualification Comes Under Threat

Jos Buttler admitted feeling guilty as England’s poor ODI form left their automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup in doubt.

Jos Buttler has admitted that he feels uneasy and partly responsible as England’s automatic qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup hangs in the balance following a prolonged slump in form.

England’s worrying ODI run has raised the uncomfortable possibility of the former world champions being forced to go through the qualification route for the marquee event, which will be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Before Saturday’s series-levelling win over Sri Lanka, England had lost 15 of their previous 20 ODIs and suffered 11 consecutive away defeats since their last overseas win in the West Indies in November 2024.

Speaking on the For The Love of Cricket podcast, Buttler admitted the situation was unsettling for the team. “It’s not actually a very nice feeling that, to be thinking we need to win X amount of games just to qualify for the World Cup,” former white-ball skipper Buttler told his For The Love of Cricket podcast.

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“I’m sure there are permutations and someone could tell us, but I don’t know what they are. I feel a bit guilty for this, obviously, having been captain for a while when we didn’t get the results we wanted to end up in the rankings where we are.

“We just need to concentrate on winning games of cricket, winning series, get ourselves up those rankings which is where we want to take the team to and make sure we qualify automatically for that World Cup.”

Under the qualification rules, co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe will gain automatic entry, along with the top eight teams in the ICC ODI rankings as of March 2027. England currently sit eighth in the standings, one place behind Afghanistan, leaving little margin for error.

England now turn their attention to the series decider against Sri Lanka, which begins on Tuesday at 2:30 pm local time (9:00 am GMT), as they look to steady their campaign and improve their position in the rankings.