England’s Champions Trophy qualification hopes in jeopardy after defeat against India in ODI World Cup 2023

England head coach Matthew Mott found out his side's place in the 2025 Champions Trophy was in jeopardy midway through the second innings of their 100-run defeat to India in the ODI World Cup 2023 in Lucknow.

The Governing Cricket Council confirmed the qualification process earlier on Sunday, which determines that Pakistan will qualify automatically as hosts and be joined at the eight-team event by the seven other highest finishers at the 2023 World Cup in India.

The news was not communicated publicly or to the media at the time, and Mott said he only found out about the top-eight cut-off "about an hour and a half ago" after England's defeat. "The ICC do change the rules quite a bit with qualification and to be honest, I don't think it would affect, in any way, the way we've played in this tournament, so it's not a big deal," Mott said.

England’s Champions Trophy Qualification in danger

England has been poor so far in this tournament and yesterday’s loss against India ensured that they are officially knocked out of the tournament and are languishing at the bottom of the points table at the 10^th position but the qualification scenario for the Champions Trophy means that England have still a lot to play for in this World Cup. England skipper Joss Buttler also reiterated the same in the post-match press conference.

Jos Buttler, England's captain, was also unaware of the qualification process until after the match."Yeah, I'm aware of that," Buttler said. "Absolutely, it just proves we've got lots to play for." England are currently bottom of the World Cup points table after five defeats in six matches and may need two wins from their remaining three fixtures to qualify for the Champions Trophy.

Their next match is against Australia in Ahmedabad on Saturday, before they travel to Pune to play the Netherlands on November 8 and Kolkata to face Pakistan on November 11. England's fixture against the Netherlands looms large as a match that could have significant implications for both teams. Netherlands have not featured in a Champions Trophy since 2002, when they lost both their group games, while England have been part of all eight editions.