Afghanistan Qualification Scenarios: How can Afghanistan qualify of Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals?

In Match 8 of the Champions Trophy 2025, Afghanistan managed to set and defend a total of 325 runs against England, all because to an outstanding effort by Ibrahim Zadran, who scored 177 off just 146 balls. Afghanistan triumphed by eight runs in a game that was crucial to their prospects of making it to the semi-final on Wednesday, February 26 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Afghanistan is now in third place with a few points in a fiercely contested Group B in the league stage, while South Africa and Australia are in first and second place with three points each. In order to secure their place in the next stages of the prestigious tournament, South Africa will need to defeat England, who have been ousted from the competition.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan have only one league stage game remaining, which is against Steven Smith’s Australia on Friday, February 28.

Afghanistan’s road to qualification

To guarantee a qualification, Hashmatullah Shahidi & Co. must win their upcoming game against the Aussies, and if they lose, they will be eliminated, since they won’t be able to surpass any of the team’s points tally. A win would seal the deal for them, as they will end at least on the second spot with four points.

Australia, on the other hand, can qualify even after a loss to Afghanistan, since South Africa losing to England with a huge margin would help them surpass the Rainbow Nation on the basis of a superior net run-rate (NRR).

What if the AFG vs AUS game is washed out?

If the match between Afghanistan and Australia ends in no result, Afghanistan will be knocked out of the qualification race, since both the team will gain a point each, handing Australia a confirmed berth for the business stage of the competition. Hence, only a win can do it for Afghanistan, so the fans back home will be praying for rain gods to be kinder.

Points Table, Group B, Champions Trophy 2025