Inaugurated in 1998, The ICC conceived the idea of the Champions Trophy – a short cricket tournament to raise funds for the development of the game in non-test playing countries.

The first Champions Trophy was organised in Bangladesh in June 1998, with the Cricket World Cup having had existed for 23 years with six completed editions.

The first two Champions Trophies were held in ICC Associate member nations – Bangladesh and Kenya, to increase the popularity of the sport in those countries and then use the funds collected for the development of their cricket.

The top eight ranked teams in the World Cup (including the hosts of the Champions Trophy) secure a berth for the tournament.

Australia and India are the two most successful teams winning the tournament twice, while South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Pakistan have won it once each.

[4][5] Since 2002, the tournament has been held in full ICC member nations with the number of teams has been reduced to eight.

The tournament had been scheduled to be held in Pakistan in 2008 but was moved to South Africa in 2009 due to security reasons.

[11][12] The new elements are accompanied by the distinctive white jackets which nod to the history of the Champions Trophy.

Bangladesh, Kenya, Sri Lanka, India and South Africa have all hosted the tournament once each.

[15] England reached the final two times, both on home soil, only to lose to winners West Indies (2004) and India (2013) respectively.

Sri Lanka was the first and only host to win the tournament, in 2002, but they were declared co-champions with India as the final was twice washed out.

All the test playing nations participated in the tournament along with the finals, involving Kenya, India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and England.

The competition was more like a knockout series where teams losing even one game at the group stage were out of the tournament.

In the final game the WI team under Lara's leadership won a tense match with the help of wicket keeper C Browne and tailender Ian Bradshaw.

Australia and West Indies reached the final defeating New Zealand and South Africa, respectively.

In the final, Australia beat West Indies by 8 wickets to win the trophy for the first time.

However, due to the crowded international schedule around that date, and concerns about whether the security situation would have changed by that time, there was widespread scepticism whether it would actually take place in 2009.

[24] On 2 April 2009, Cricket South Africa confirmed that it would host the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy from 24 September to 5 October.

The Board accepted recommendations from the ICC that Liberty Life Wanderers (Johannesburg) and Supersport Park (Centurion) be the host venues.

The details of SA's hosting of the Champions Trophy were ironed out at a meeting between CSA's CEO Gerald Majola and ICC general manager – Commercial, Campbell Jamieson.

India and England won their respective games against Sri Lanka and South Africa comprehensively and the final between the two took place on 23 June 2013.

Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged man of the match and he also received the "Golden Ball" for taking the most wickets in the tournament.

[29] However, in January 2014, that decision was reversed, due to the massive success of the 2013 edition, with the ICC confirming that the 2017 Champions Trophy tournament would take place and the proposed Test Championship was cancelled.

Bangladesh replaced the West Indies, who finished outside the top eight in ninth position, in the ICC ODI Team Rankings on the cut-off date.

[32][33] Pakistan, the lowest-ranked team in the competition,[34] won their first Champions Trophy title and became the seventh nation to win it.

[38] In December 2024, due to political tensions, India has refused to play their matches in Pakistan during the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and it was decided that tournament will now take place on Hybrid Model.

Now, Pakistan & United Arab Emirates hosted the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025.

The table below provides an overview of the performances of teams over past ICC Champions Trophy.