U-19 ODI World Cup: Everything You Need to Know About the U-19 ODI World Cup begins with the 2026 edition being hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia and played from 15 January to 6 February 2026, with 16 teams taking part.
The tournament opened on 15 January 2026 with the first match between India Under-19, captained by Ayush Mhatre, and USA Under-19, led by Utkarsh Srivastava. The match was played at the Queen’s Sports Club Cricket Ground in Bulawayo and started at 1:00 PM local time. This opening game marked the start of another exciting Youth World Cup, showcasing young cricketing talent from around the world.
Everything You Need to Know About the U-19 ODI World Cup: Teams
The ICC Men’s Under-19 ODI World Cup 2026 features 16 teams divided into four groups for the group stage.
Group A: Australia, Ireland, Japan, Sri Lanka
Group B: India, Bangladesh, USA, New Zealand
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Group C: Zimbabwe, Pakistan, England, Scotland
Group D: Tanzania, West Indies, Afghanistan, South Africa
Each team plays the others in its group, and the top teams move forward to the next stage, setting up exciting contests between young cricketing talents from around the world.
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Everything You Need to Know About the U-19 ODI World Cup: Format
The ICC Men’s Under-19 ODI World Cup 2026 uses a round-robin plus knockout format rather than a straight elimination bracket. Sixteen teams are first divided into four groups of four, where each team plays the other three in its group (round-robin style).
The top three teams from each group then advance to a Super Six stage, where they play more matches to determine the best teams. After the Super Six, the top four teams move on to the semi-finals, which lead into the final to decide the champion.
Everything You Need to Know About the U-19 ODI World Cup: Captains
For the ICC Men’s Under-19 ODI World Cup 2026, each team will be led by a young captain. India will be captained by Ayush Mhatre, while Pakistan will be led by Farhan Yousaf. Afghanistan’s Under-19 side will be captained by Mahboob Khan, and Bangladesh will have Azizul Hakim Tamim as their skipper. Utkarsh Srivastava, will lead the USA and New Zealand’s captain is Tom Jones.
Among the other teams, Australia will be captained by Oliver Peake, England by Thomas Rew, Sri Lanka by Vimath Dinsara, and Ireland by Olly Riley. Zimbabwe’s captain is Thomas Knight, who will lead Simbarashe Mudzengerere, Scotland and Japan’s captain is Kazuma Kato-Stafford. In Group D, West Indies will be captained by Joshua Dorne, South Africa by Bulbulia, while Tanzania’s captain is yet to be officially confirmed.
Everything You Need to Know About the U-19 ODI World Cup: Final Match
The final of the ICC Men’s Under-19 ODI World Cup 2026 will be played on 6 February 2026 at the Harare Sports Club in Harare, Zimbabwe. The top two teams of the tournament will face each other in the title clash, bringing together the best young cricketing talent to compete for the prestigious Under-19 World Cup trophy.
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