England, the only country at the time with the resources to organize an event of this size, hosted the first Cricket World Cup in 1975. On June 7, 1975, the competition got underway. The first three competitions, named the Prudential Cup after its sponsors Prudential plc, were staged in England. The games were played in the usual daytime format with each side getting 60 six-ball overs. The participants wore white cricket shirts and used red cricket balls.

The first tournament included eight teams: Australia, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, India, and the West Indies (then the six Test nations), as well as Sri Lanka and a combined East African squad. South Africa, which was barred from playing international cricket owing to apartheid, was one noticeable exclusion. The West Indies won the competition by defeating Australia by a score of 17 runs in the championship match at Lord's. The 1975 World Cup final saw Roy Fredricks of the West Indies become the first batsman to get a hit-wicket in an ODI.

The ICC Trophy tournament was first used to choose non-Test playing countries for the World Cup in 1979 when Sri Lanka & Canada qualified. The West Indies defeated the tournament hosts England by 92 runs in the championship match to win the World Cup for the second time in a row. The International Cricket Conference decided to make the tournament a quadrennial event during a meeting that took place after the World Cup.

England served as the host nation for the competition in 1983. At this time, Zimbabwe had won the ICC Trophy, and Sri Lanka had attained the status of a Test-playing nation. At a distance of 30 yards (27 meters) from the stumps, a fielding circle was added. There were to be four fieldmen inside it at all times. Before entering the knockout rounds, the teams squared off against one another twice. India defeated the West Indies by 43 runs in the tournament final to claim victory.

The 1987 event was held outside of England for the first time and was jointly hosted by India and Pakistan. Because of the short daylight hours on the Indian subcontinent than in England's summer, the games were shortened from 60 to 50 overs each inning, the current norm. Up to the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand, Australia's 7-run victory against England in the championship match was the closest margin of victory in the World Cup final.

1992 World Cup

The 1992 World Cup, which was played in New Zealand and Australia, saw the game undergo various modifications, including the introduction of white balls, colored uniforms, day/night matches, and a modification to the fielding limitation regulations. With the collapse of the apartheid system and the worldwide sports boycott, the South African cricket team took part in the tournament for the first time. Pakistan overcame a poor start to the competition to overcome England by 22 runs in the final game and take home the trophy.

1996 World Cup

For the second time, the 1996 World Cup was contested in the Indian subcontinent, with part of the group-stage matches being played in Sri Lanka. In the semi-final, Sri Lanka was on the verge of a crushing victory against India at Eden Gardens when the fans erupted in a riot at the Indian team's performance. The hosts had lost eight wickets while needing to score 120 runs to reach 252. In the final at Lahore, Sri Lanka defeated Australia by seven (7) wickets to win their first title.

1999 World Cup

In 1999, England hosted the competition, however, some of the matches were also held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, as well as the Netherlands. The World Cup included twelve competing teams. In the championship match, Australia bowled out Pakistan for 132, completed the goal in under 20 overs, and had eight wickets left over.

2003 World Cup

Three countries - South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya hosted the 2003 World Cup. There were fourteen teams instead of the previous twelve competing in the event. Australia scored the highest-ever total in a final (359 runs for the loss of two wickets), beating India by 125 runs. The West Indies hosted the 2007 edition of the competition, which featured sixteen teams. Australia extended their World Cup winning streak to 29 games by defeating Sri Lanka in the finals game by 53 runs (D/L) and capturing three straight titles.

2011 World Cup

Together, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India hosted the 2011 World Cup. Following the terrorist assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009, Pakistan lost the privilege to host, and the matches that were originally scheduled for Pakistan were allocated to the other host nations. India became the first nation to win the World Cup at home when they defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the World Cup final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

2015 World Cup

The 2015 World Cup was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Australia won the World Cup for the sixth time by defeating New Zealand by seven (7) wickets in the championship game in Melbourne. England and Wales hosted the 2019 World Cup. There were fewer participants only 10 remained. After 50 overs and a tie score of 241, the match in the championship went to a super over, where the score remained knotted at 15. England won the World Cup by scoring more boundaries than New Zealand overall.

2019 World Cup

The 12th edition of the men's national teams' One Day International (ODI) cricket competition, which was hosted by the International Cricket Council every four years, took place in 2019. It was held between May 30 and July 14 at 10 locations in England and one location in Wales. This was England's sixth World Cup competition, while Wales hosted it for the third time.

Ten teams participated in the competition, down from 14 teams in the previous edition. The tournament's structure changed to a single round-robin group, with the top four teams advancing to the knockout stage. India, Australia, England, and New Zealand ended as the top four teams after 6 weeks of round-robin matches, with Pakistan losing out on the top spot based on net run rate. Four of the matches went without a result.

England and New Zealand both won their respective semifinal matches in the elimination stage to get to the final, which was held at London's Lord's. Both sides scored 241 runs in the final, which resulted in a draw. After the first ODI Super Over, which also ended in a tie, England won the championship, their first ever, using the boundary countback rule. 752,000 people attended the whole 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. As of 2019, the group rounds of the tournament have had over 2.6 billion views globally, making it the most-viewed cricket event.