The 2026 ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which was held in Zimbabwe and Namibia in early 2026. It was the sixteenth edition of the Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup. Australia were the defending champions.
In the final, India defeated England by 100 runs to win their record sixth Under-19 Cricket World Cup title.
Qualification
The top ten teams from the previous tournament qualified automatically, along with host Zimbabwe and the five winners of regional qualification tournaments.
The regional qualification tournaments were held from 25 February 2024 to 16 August 2025. The other five places in the tournament were awarded to the winners of the five regional under-19 tournaments.
+ List of teams qualified for the 2026 Under-19 Cricket World Cup Method of qualification Date of qualification Venues No. of teams Teams Full Member host 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup(Top 10 teams from previous tournament) 3 February 2024 Africa Qualifier 6 April 2025 Asia Qualifier 19 April 2025 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier 29 April 2025 Europe Qualifier 6 August 2025 Americas Qualifier 16 August 2025 Total 16
Match officials
On 8 January 2026, the ICC released the list of match referees and umpires for the tournament.
Match referees Prakash Bhatt Dean Cosker Graeme Labrooy Neeyamur Rashid
Umpires
Faisal Afridi Zahid Bassarath Nitin Bathi Cory Black Deighton Butler Iknow Chabi Shawn Craig Ahmad Shah Durrani Lubabalo Gcuma Shaun Haig Graham Lloyd Forster Mutizwa Masudur Rahman Prageeth Rambukwella Aidan Seaver Virender Sharma Russell Warren
Squads
Each team selected a squad of fifteen players for the tournament, excluding reserves, with Ireland being the first team to name their squad on 1 December 2025.
Format 16 teams are divided into four groups. The top three teams from each group advance to the Super Six stage. The fourth placed teams in Group A and D face each other, while the fourth-placed teams in Group B and C face each other in the placement stage.
In the super-six stage, the top three teams from Group A and D are combined in one group, with the top three teams from Group B and C combined in another group. Each team carries forward the number of points, wins, and net run rate they have earned against other Super 6 qualifying teams and will then play two matches in the Super 6 stage against the opponent from the corresponding group that finished in a different group stage position (i.e. the A1 team plays only D2 and D3 in the Super 6). Similarly, A2 plays only D1 and D3, and so forth. So, all team will be evaluated in Super six with results from 4 matches played.
The top two teams from each group in the super-six stage will qualify for the semi-finals.
Venues In November 2025, the ICC unveiled the list of venues for the tournament, with Zimbabwe set to host 25 matches, including both semi-finals and the final, while Namibia set to host the remaining 16 fixtures.
Venues in Namibia Windhoek Namibia Cricket Ground High Performance Oval Capacity: 7,000 Matches: 8 Matches: 8
Venues in Zimbabwe BulawayoHarare Queens Sports Club Harare Sports Club Takashinga Sports Club Capacity: 12,500 Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 10,000 Matches: 11 (Semi-final 1) Matches: 7 (Semi-final 2 & Final) Matches: 7
Warm-up matches The ICC announced the warm-up fixtures along with the complete tournament schedule on 19 November 2025.
Group stage
The ICC announced the groups and fixtures on 19 November 2025, with the group stage, comprising 24 matches, scheduled to be played from 15 to 24 January 2026.
Group A Points table
Fixtures
Group B Points table
Fixtures
Group C Points table
Fixtures
Group D Points table
Fixtures
13th to 16th Place play-offs
Super 6 Teams will face each other in diagonal form in Super 6, which means A1 will face D2 and D3, A2 will face D1 and D3, and A3 will face D1 and D2.
Group 1 Points table
Fixtures
Group 2 Points table
Fixtures
Knockout stage Bracket
Semi-finals
Final
Final standings Pos.Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Team of the tournament On 8 February 2026, the ICC announced the team of the tournament.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Viran Chamuditha Faisal Shinozada Thomas Rew (c, wk) Oliver Peake Ben Mayes Kanishk Chouhan Nooristani Omarzai Vitel Lawes Ali Raza Manny Lumsden Henil Patel (12th man)
Records +Batting RecordsRecordValuePlayerTeamAgainstMost Runs444Ben MayesHighest Innings192Viran ChamudithaHighest Average200Hugo Tani-KellyHighest Strike Rate169.49Vaibhav SooryavanshiMost Centuries2Oliver PeakeViran ChamudithaFaisal ShinozadaMost Sixes30Vaibhav SooryavanshiMost Sixes in an innings15Vaibhav SooryavanshiHighest Partnership328Dimantha MahavithanaViran Chamuditha +Bowling RecordsRecordValuePlayerTeamAgainstMost Wickets16Manny LumsdenBest Bowling Figures6/40Shaquan BelleBest Average (min. 10 overs)9.07Abdul SubhanBest Economy Rate (min. 10 overs)2.65Viran ChamudithaBest Strike Rate (min. 10 overs)13.2Timothy MooreMost 4+ Wicket Hauls2Nooristani Omarzai +Team RecordsRecordValueTeamAgainstHighest Innings Total411/9Highest Match Aggregate722Highest Victory Margin (Runs)329Highest Victory Margin (Wickets)9Most Extras Conceded in an Innings35 +Fielding RecordsRecordValuePlayerTeamMost Catches8Ben DawkinsMost Wicketkeeper Dismissals14Hamza ZahoorThomas Rew
Notes
References
External links Series home at ESPNcricinfo