Cricket World Cup History: 4 teams that never won a World Cup match

ICC Cricket World Cup is the biggest cricket carnival of the world as all the top cricketing nations of the world gather at one place to determine who is the world's best. The first World Cup was held in the year 1975, where eight teams took part in the event. Over the years, 11 World Cups have taken place and 20 teams have played in this tournament.

Australia has been the most successful team with 5 World Cup wins while India and West Indies have won two World Cups each. The Asian giants, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have won the World Cup trophy once. On one side, all the major teams dream to win the ICC World Cup and on the other, the associate nations dream to win a match in the World Cup.

Though most of the teams have been successful in winning a World Cup match, these 4 teams have been an exception.

#4 Scotland

The Scotland cricket team

Scotland has played the most World Cup matches amongst the teams which are on this list. The Scots have played 14 World Cup matches from 1999 to 2015 but they weren't successful in winning a single match.

They came very close to winning their first ever World Cup match in 2015 against Afghanistan but unfortunately, Afghanistan won the match by 1 wicket in the end. The Scots played in 3 Cricket World Cups till date and they have finished at the bottom of the points table on every occasion.

Recently, Scotland defeated world no.1 ODI team, England in an ODI game but they could not qualify for the 2019 World Cup. Scotland will try their best to qualify for the next ICC World Cup which will be played in the year 2023.

#3 Namibia

Rudi van Vuuren of Namibia appeals for the wicket of Darren Lehmann of Australia

The African country, Namibia made its only World Cup appearance in the year 2003. The Namibians got a place in Pool A which comprised of heavyweights like India, Australia, England, and Pakistan along with minnows Zimbabwe and the Netherlands. Namibia were high on momentum as they had defeated Bangladesh ahead of the World Cup.

However, in their maiden World Cup campaign ended out to be a disastrous one for the team as they returned home empty-handed. They suffered crushing defeats in all the matches which included a 256-run loss at the hands of Australia. In the game against India, the Namibians failed to match the score put on by the 'Master Blaster', Sachin Tendulkar.

Unfortunately, Namibia has never been able to make it to the World Cup after 2003 but with the T20 format gaining popularity in the country, we can expect them to make a comeback in the ICC tournaments soon.

#2 Bermuda

Group B, Sri Lanka v Bermuda - Cricket World Cup 2007

The Bermudans made history by qualifying for their first ever Cricket World Cup in the year 2007. As the tournament was hosted by the West Indies, Bermuda received support from the fans as well. But, the minnows could not capitalize on their momentum and lost all the 3 matches they played before crashing out of the World Cup.

Bermuda made its World Cup debut against Sri Lanka and lost the match by 243 runs. In their second game, they went head to head with team India. Virender Sehwag's century powered the Men in Blue to a 257-run victory over Bermuda.

When Bermuda took the field against Bangladesh in their final group match, the entire Indian cricket community was praying for a Bermuda victory but Bangladesh won the match by 7 wickets to send both India and Bermuda out of the World Cup.

#1 East Africa

East Africa was suspended by ICC in 1989

East Africa and Sri Lanka received a special invitation to play in the ICC World Cup 1975 along with the six major cricketing nations of the world. However, both the teams proved to be a complete mismatch in the tournament as they suffered huge defeats in all the matches.

East Africa was pitted in Group A along with New Zealand, England, and India. New Zealand recorded their first ever World Cup victory against East Africa in the opening match of Group A while India beat East Africa by 10-wickets in the African side's second fixture.

A 196-runs humiliation at the hands of hosts, England ensured that East Africa lost all their group matches and return home without any wins. East Africa was suspended by ICC in 1989 as Kenya took their place in the cricket board.