Credit: ICC
The World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 witnessed the dominance of South Africa, who beat Australia in the final held at the iconic Lord’s in London and became the third champions of the marquee red-ball tournament. Australia, who were defending champions, played quality cricket from 2023 to 2025 to reach the final. They reserved their spot in the final after beating India by 3-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 played Down Under.
However, on a massive occasion, they couldn't hold their nerves against the Protea side and failed to add another ICC title under their legendary skipper Pat Cummins. South Africa, who played a fierce brand of cricket in the final, couldn’t play quality cricket in the initial phase of their Championship campaign starting from December 2023. Kicking off their journey with the two-match home series against India, they could record 1-1 figures.
Following the disappointing result, the Proteas got whitewashed in New Zealand against the Kiwi side in a two-match Test series. However, they made a spectacular comeback after the drubbing at the hands of Black Caps. They went on to beat West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to punch their tickets to London to appear in the WTC 2025 final at Lord’s.
After witnessing three WTC finals, it’s time to know the champions of every edition of the illustrious Test tournament. Below SportsTiger has discussed all three WTC champions who pulled off the distinguished mace from 2019 to 2025:
List of WTC Winners from 2019 to 2025
2021 - New Zealand
New Zealand became the first team to win the first installment of WTC after beating India in the final played at The Rose Bowl. Under Kane Williamson’s sensational captaincy, the Kiwi team got the better of Virat Kohli’s side, who failed to be decent as a batting unit.
After handing a 32-run lead to New Zealand in the first innings, India had the opportunity to bat with an aggressive approach in the second innings and post a heavy total on the board. However, India got dismissed on 170 and delivered a target of only 139. New Zealand chased down the target comfortably and emerged triumphant by eight wickets. Kyle Jamieson became the player of the match (POTM) for picking up seven wickets in the game.
2023 - Australia
After missing the chance to lift the mace in 2021, India were again in the WTC finals. This time, New Zealand’s neighbour Australia were against the World Cup 2011 champions at the iconic Oval. Rohit Sharma was handling India’s captaincy mantle and in the huge game, the toss fell in his favour and he elected to field first.
Riding on Travis Head’s 163 and Steven Smith’s 121, the Aussies put up 469 runs on the board. Following the total, India got dismissed on 296 and handed Pat Cummins and his men a 173-run lead after the first innings. Australia declared their second innings after scoring 270/8 and with this decision, India were required to complete the chase of 444 to win their maiden WTC mace. However, in the crunch situation, Rohit and Co. capitulated to 234 and registered an embarrassing 209-run loss.
2025 - South Africa
South Africa displayed their valiance against Australia and became the third WTC champions after clinching an amazing five-wicket win. Following the score 212, the Proteas surrendered on 138 in the first innings. With Australia having a command over the game after the conclusion of the first innings, it was imperative for the Proteas to be effective in the second innings.
Kagiso Rabada, who picked up a fifer in the first innings, stepped up again and wrecked the Aussie team’s batting unit. He scalped four wickets while Lungi Ngidi also assisted him with three crucial wickets to stop Australia on 207 in the second innings. Chasing 282 runs, South Africa lost Ryan Rickelton but Aiden Markram stood tall against Australia’s bowling attack and played a match-winning innings of 136. In South Africa’s massive achievement, Markram became the player of the match.
