ICC Champions Trophy: Instances of defending champions failing to win a single game in the tournament

The first edition of the ICC Champions Trophy was played in 1998.

The first edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, formerly known as the ICC Knockout Trophy, was held in 1998 in Bangladesh. Since then, eight editions of the tournament have taken place. Initially, the competition was held every two years, but was later shifted to a four-year cycle after 2009. However, the tournament was disbanded after 2017 and then returned in 2025.

Throughout its history, the tournament has been won by six teams: South Africa (1998), New Zealand (2000), Sri Lanka (2002), India (2002 and 2013), West Indies (2004), Australia (2006 and 2009), and Pakistan (2017). However, Australia remains the only team to have won the trophy back-to-back.

However, the Aussies also hold the unfortunate record of not registering a single win as defending champions in 2013. Interestingly, another team has suffered the same fate.

On that note, let’s take a look at instances when defending champions of the ICC Champions Trophy failed to register a win.

Instances of defending champions not winning a single match in ICC Champions Trophy history:

1. Australia – 2013

Australia made history by becoming the first team to win back-to-back ICC Champions Trophy titles as they won the tournament in 2009. They repeated their 2006 heroics by defeating West Indies and Pakistan in the group stage, while their clash against India was abandoned due to rain.

The Aussies then defeated arch-rivals England in the semi-finals by nine wickets before cruising to a six-wicket win against New Zealand in the final to secure the title.

Their title defense in 2013 was an unfortunate one as the team was knocked out in the group stage without a single win. They lost their opening match against England by 48 runs before their game against New Zealand was washed out due to rain. In their final group match, they were beaten by Sri Lanka by 20 runs.

Australia’s poor luck continued in the 2017 edition as they faced two rain washouts against New Zealand and Bangladesh before losing the do-or-die encounter against England.

2. Pakistan – 2025

Pakistan stunned the world by winning the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. After losing their opening game to India by 124 runs, they defeated South Africa and Sri Lanka to reach the semi-finals.

They later defeated England in the semi-finals by eight wickets before crushing India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval to claim their maiden title.

Defending their title in 2025, the Green Team lost the tournament opener against New Zealand by 60 runs before suffering a six-wicket defeat to India in Dubai. Their final group-stage match against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain as they concluded their campaign without a win.

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