The 2024 World Cup group stage will be one to remember.

This tournament is the first of the T20 variety that has felt like a proper World Cup due to an expansion from 12 teams to 20.

Previous T20 World Cups have featured a qualification stage that took place on the eve of the tournament to create the impression that the Associate members were as much a part of the World Cup as the full member nations.

That process did provide some interesting matches, yet it was hardly acknowledged by fans as the first stage of the World Cup.

Now, in 2024, all 20 teams entered the tournament at the same point. It’s most certainly been a rare successful move by the ICC, who have a long history of bowing to the ‘big three’ and now more so to the BCCI.

For reference, in the 2022 T20 World Cup, there was just one associate member alive when the tournament proper commenced.

This year there were nine. It is the largest representation of associate members in the history of World Cup cricket, the previous benchmark being the 2007 ODI World Cup which featured six associate members.

One reason this tournament will be remembered is due to the large presence of Associate members.

Who would’ve thought watching Canada and the USA battle it out in a World Cup opener would be such an enthralling way to start the competition?

Not me for one, and since that match, our eyes have been opened to the joy of World Cup cricket which includes more than the 11 full member nations.

The USA’s qualification for the ‘Super 8’ stage is up there with Kenya’s semi-final trip in 2003 as one of the biggest surprises in cricket World Cup history.

They tied with and then beat Pakistan in a super over; I mean, what the hell. Who could ever have guessed that heading into the tournament?

Not only did they qualify ahead of Pakistan for the ‘Super 8s’, but the USA also gave India a run for their money at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, which as a collection of pitches, did allow the associates to have a greater chance of victory than those who were stationed in the various countries of the West Indies.

There we saw more routine defeats at the hands of nations such as Australia, England and the West Indies, yet the experience will only benefit the players.

Papua New Guinea, for example, will have gained so much knowledge from competing against the likes of the West Indies, Afghanistan and New Zealand, teams they never would have imagined playing against.

PNG even gave the West Indies a real scare in their first game of the tournament.

Although performances like those against the big nations are rare, the best way for these teams to improve is to be exposed to the best players of the sport.

It won’t cause an overnight improvement, but it may set the wheels in motion for the future.

Ireland is a perfect example. They made their World Cup debut in 2007, winning two matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh, in 2011 they again won two, including a victory over England and in 2015 they finished with three wins from six matches.

They gradually improved as their exposure to top-level cricket increased and are now a full-member nation.

Now, they haven’t played in an ODI World Cup since 2015, due to the ICC’s reduction of teams in that format of the tournament to 10, but they provide an example of what an expansion in the number of teams in world tournaments can create in the long run.

We don’t need the 10 best teams to be the only ones competing in a World Cup, you’ll generally get to see that regardless, as will be the case in the upcoming ‘Super 8s’ stage that features seven full member nations.

Those nations usually see a lot of each other anyway.

This World Cup feels unique, it feels new. New teams, new players and new storylines.

So, as we say goodbye to the eight associate members who have been eliminated from the tournament, we thank them and hope to see many of them again in Sri Lanka and India in 2026.