Afghanistan hold the sixth position in the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings, a placement no side from the nation has ever reached before. The Afghans have accumulated 2,926 points from 31 matches, translating to a rating of 94, and in doing so, they have moved past Sri Lanka, England, Bangladesh and West Indies in the standings.

Since their ODI debut in 2009, Afghanistan have contested 191 matches in the format, winning 96 of them for a win-loss ratio of 1.09. That record, built across 17 years of competitive cricket, now underpins a ranking that places them firmly among the top half-dozen sides in 50-over cricket.

What recent results pushed Afghanistan up the ODI rankings?

A run of strong series results across the past year has driven the rise. Away in Ireland, Afghanistan swept the ODI series 4-0 in August, a result that delivered a significant block of ranking points. They then went through a tri-series featuring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe without suffering a single defeat, adding further weight to their points tally.

On the T20I front, the current Zimbabwe tour has produced a 3-0 whitewash for Rahmat Shah's Afghanistan. Sharjah hosted the decisive third match on November 1 2026, where Zimbabwe were dismissed for 79 inside 15 overs. Spinner Noor Ahmad was central to that collapse, working through Zimbabwe's middle and lower order with precision before Afghanistan knocked off the target with seven wickets to spare. A two-match Test series against Zimbabwe is scheduled to follow the T20I leg of the tour.

How does this ranking fit into Afghanistan's broader ODI journey?

The sixth-place milestone is the latest chapter in a story that stretches back to 2009. Having entered ODI cricket that year, Afghanistan announced themselves as a genuine force in 50-over cricket when they defeated both Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the 2023 World Cup, results that shifted how the cricketing world assessed their capabilities.

Their ambitions extended into the shortest format as well. At the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup, Afghanistan reached the semi-finals for the first time, a landmark that underlined the depth of talent across their squad. The combination of those World Cup performances, the unbeaten tri-series campaign, the 4-0 series win over Ireland and the tri-series win has collectively carried Afghanistan to this record sixth-place position in ODI cricket.