Who is the leading run-getter of the ODI World Cup history?

India’s Sachin Tendulkar is the leading run-getter in ODI World Cup history, having smashed 2278 runs in 44 innings with 15 fifties and six centuries.

Who is the leading wicket-taker in ODI World Cup history?

Australia’s Glenn McGrath is the leading wicket-taker in ODI World Cup history for his 71 wickets in 39 innings at an average of 18.19, thanks to a couple of five-wicket hauls.

Who has won the most titles in ICC Men’s ODI World Cups?

Australia has won the most titles in the ODI World Cups. Their six titles came in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015, and 2023.

Who has won the most ‘Player of the Tournament’ awards in ODI World Cups?

No single player has won more than one Player of the Tournament award in ODI World Cups. The award has been given out once per tournament since 1992, and a different player has won it each time.

ICC Men's ODI World Cup winners list

The ICC Men’s ODI World Cup stands as the pinnacle of the 50-over format. It’s a tournament where legends are born, and history is rewritten every four years. Since the introduction of the event in 1975, the competition has displayed the very best teams of the world battling in tough contests for the ultimate glory, producing unforgettable moments that have shaped the game’s legacy. West Indies showed the early dominace before Australia took over.

Over the decades, the list of the winners of the ODI World Cup has reflected the evolution of the game. The early dominance by teams like the West Indies set the tone, while Australia emerged as the most successful side in the event’s history. On the other hand, nations like India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have delivered some superb moments to be etched in memory.

What makes the World Cup truly special is its ability to produce some defining moments- Kapil Dev lifting the trophy in 1983 to write new history in Indian cricket, while MS Dhoni’s six to win the 2011 World Cup remains the most memorable moment for any Indian fan, along with Sachin Tendulkar getting carried on everyone’s shoulders.

As the game has evolved with the new formats, technologies, and strategies, the World Cup has remained a constant symbol of excellence. The list of winners highlights the champions and reflects the dynamics in world cricket, displaying how different the teams have risen to the occasion across eras.

Every ODI World Cup-winning team since 1975, in one list

In the comprehensive list of the ODI World Cup winners, here is a revisit to the teams from the 1970s to the modern day, celebrating how they have conquered the biggest stage and left a mark in cricketing history.

#1 West Indies in 1975 Prudential World Cup-

West Indies started their campaign of the Prudential Cup in 1975 with a comfortable victory by nine wickets in the 87-run chase against Sri Lanka in Manchester. That was followed by their close win over Pakistan at Edgbaston when they completed the successful chase of 267 runs by one wicket with two balls to spare.

They continued their winning journey against Australia, along with the semifinal win against New Zealand at the Kennington Oval. At Lord’s, they faced a tough Australian side and earned the victory by 17 runs in the 291-run defence as their captain, Clive Lloyd, smashed a fine knock of 102 runs.

For them, Alvin Kallicharran was the leading run-getter of the competition with 197 runs in five innings. Meanwhile, Bernard Julien and Keith Boyce finished as their joint-leading wicket-taker with 10 scalps in five innings during the event.

#2 West Indies in 1979 Prudential World Cup-

The defending champions continued to make a statement in the 1979 Prudential World Cup with the opening 9-wicket win over India at Edgbaston before their second game against Sri Lanka was abandoned due to rain. It was followed by a 32-run win over New Zealand and a 43-run win over Pakistan in the semifinal. This time, they faced the hosts England in the final at Lord’s and earned an easy 92-run win to claim their second successive World Cup.

Their opener, Gordon Greenidge, finished the event as the leading run-getter of the event with 253 runs in four innings at 84.33 with two fifties and one century. Michael Holding, on the other hand, ended as their leading wicket-taker with eight wickets in four innings at 13.25.

#3 India in 1983 Prudential World Cup 1983-

No one gave them a chance, and why would anyone, given their place in world cricket at that time? In their very first game in Manchester, India did the invincible to hand West Indies a 34-run defeat by bundling them out for 228. They beat Zimbabwe in a hard-fought clash in Leicester before their 162-run defeat against Australia.

In the second round, they beat Zimbabwe but lost to West Indies and still progressed to the semifinal, where they earned the qualifying tickets for the final with the six-wicket win over England. In the final, they faced the might of WI again and wrote history with the 43-run victory.

India’s captain, Kapil Dev, was their leading run-getter of the event with 303 runs in eight innings at 60.60, while Roger Binny finished the tournament as the most successful bowler with 18 wickets at 18.66.

#4 Australia in 1987 Reliance World Cup-

At the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Australia stunned India with a one-run win in their opening game of the 1987 Reliance World Cup before beating Zimbabwe next at the same venue. They continued the winning journey with a three-run win over New Zealand before losing to the Blue Brigade. A couple of more wins pushed them to the semifinal, where they got the better of Pakistan by 18 runs.

In the final at the Eden Gardens, Australia blew away their arch-rivals, England, by a small seven-run margin. David Boon finished as their leading run-getter with 447 runs at 55.87, while Craig McDermott was the event’s leading wicket-taker with 18 scalps at 18.94.

#5 Pakistan in 1992 Benson Hedges World Cup-

Pakistan experienced a horrible 10-wicket defeat at the MCG in the 220-run defence against West Indies to start the campaign before beating Zimbabwe in Hobart. The Imran Khan-led side was lucky to avoid defeat in Adelaide due to rain before losing to India and South Africa. But the wins over Australia and Sri Lanka took them to the semifinal, where they reached the final by beating New Zealand in the 263-run chase.

Pakistan completed their dream by winning their maiden World Cup with the 22-run victory over England in Melbourne. Javed Miandad finished as their leading run-getter with 437 runs at 62.42 while Wasim Akram was the event’s leading wicket-taker with 18 wickets at 18.77.

#6 Sri Lanka in 1996 Wills World Cup-

In Colombo, Sri Lanka got the points against Australia through a walkover without a ball being bowled. They completed their second win over Zimbabwe by six wickets in the 229-run chase with 13 overs to spare. They earned another such walkover win over the Caribbean side in Colombo and blew away India in the 272-run chase with eight balls to spare.

In the first semifinal of the competition, they won against the blue brigade in Kolkata and reached the final, where they were up against Australia in Lahore. Aravinda de Silva’s superb unbeaten 107-run knock and three wickets shouldered them to the seven-wicket win to chase their dream.

De Silva was their leading run-getter with 448 runs at 89.60, with two centuries and as many fifties, while Muttiah Muralidharan was their leading wicket-taker with seven scalps at 30.85.

#7 Australia in 1999 ICC World Cup-

It was the start of Australia’s dominance at the World Cup stage. In the 1999 World Cup, they started their campaign with a win over Scotland before losing to New Zealand and Pakistan. But with two successive wins over Bangladesh and West Indies, they qualified for the Super stage, where they earned successive wins over India, Zimbabwe, and South Africa before a tied semifinal win took them to the final.

At Lord’s, they earned an easy win over Pakistan in the final by eight wickets with nearly 30 overs to spare. Captain Steve Waugh was their leading run-getter with 398 runs in eight innings at 79.60, while Shane Warne was the joint leading wicket-taker with 20 wickets in 10 innings.

#8 Australia in 2003 ICC World Cup-

This Australian side was a different gravy altogether. They started the event with the 82-run win over Pakistan and continued the winning journey against India, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and England to reach the super stage, where they earned wins over Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Kenya to reach the semis.

In Gqeberha, they blew away the Sri Lankan side with a 48-run win in the DLS method and earned a massive 125-run win over India to claim their second successive trophy. Ricky Ponting was their leading run-getter of the event with 415 runs in 10 innings, while Brett Lee was their most successful bowler with 22 wickets in 10 innings at 17.90.

#9 Australia in 2007 ICC World Cup-

Many believed that even before taking the flight to the Caribbean for the World Cup, Australia had won the title. Such was the gap between their quality and others. They didn’t lose a single game in their group-stage journey and made it into the semifinal, where they blew away the South African side with a seven-wicket win with more than 18 overs to spare.

In Barbados, they earned a 53-run victory in the DLS method by restricting the Sri Lankan side to 215/8 in 36 overs after they posted 281 runs in 38 overs. Matthew Hayden was the leading run-getter of the event with 659 runs at 73.22, while Glenn McGrath sat at the top with 26 wickets at 13.73.

#10 India in 2011 ICC World Cup-

The pressure was massive on the Indian side, under MS Dhoni, as it was their home event with Sachin Tendulkar’s last 50-over competition. The blue brigade reached the quarter-final with the only defeat coming against the Proteas. They knocked out the Aussies with a tense five-wicket win and beat the arch-rivals Pakistan in the semifinal by 29 runs.

In the final, at the Wankhede Stadium, Dhoni’s memorable six got them into the history books with the six-wicket victory. Tendulkar was their leading run-getter with 482 runs at 53.55, while Zaheer Khan sat at the top jointly with 21 wickets in nine innings at 18.76.

#11 Australia in 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup-

It was another World Cup where the home side earned the win in the 2015 edition. Australia’s only loss in the group stage of the competition came against the Kiwis at Eden Park by one wicket as they made the semifinal, where they beat India by 95 runs in Sydney and reached the final.

Once Mitchell Starc bowled out Brendon McCullum in the final at the MCG, the game was over, and they eventually earned the win by seven wickets. For them, Steve Smith was their leading run-getter with 402 runs at 67, while Mitchell Starc sat at the top jointly with 22 wickets at 10.18.

#12 England in 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup-

Down and out from the 2015 World Cup, England came up with aggression in 2019. They faced a few roadblocks in the journey with the defeats against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Australia. But a few timely wins took them to the semifinal, where they blew away the arch-rivals and reached the final.

At Lord’s, the Eoin Morgan-led side earned the win against the Blackcaps in the super over on the boundary count. For them, Joe Root was their leading run-getter with 556 runs at 61.77, while Jofra Archer was England’s most successful bowler with 20 wickets at 23.05.

#13 Australia in 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup-

Australia started the 2023 ODI World Cup in a disappointing way with two successive defeats but showed courage and made a stable return to win the rest of the games. They blew away the Proteas in the semifinal before meeting the unbeaten Indian side in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Despite being in crisis, Travis Head’s super century shouldered them over the line for a memorable win. For them, David Warner was the leading run-getter of the side with 535 runs in 11 innings at 48.63, while Adam Zampa was the leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets at 22.39.