ICC U-19 World Cup 2026 is going to carry the last 15th editions pride and glory. The 16th edition is going to start from 15th January, and the final will be played just a day before the start of the Men’s T20I World Cup on 6th February. The ICC U-19 World Cup is a stage of its kind, young bloods from different nations will play against each other, allowing the flourishing of dreams on which they will build their next ambitions. The big test before the next chapter will consist of 16 teams.
Australia is the defending champion, while India won the championship five times. Other than that, Pakistan is the only team who tasted victory multiple times.
Tournament format
Sixteen teams are split into four groups, with the top three from each advancing to the Super Six stage. Fourth-placed teams contest placement matches, with Group A facing D and Group B meeting C. Super Six consists of two groups: qualifiers from Groups A and D form one pool, while those from Groups B and C form the other. In Super Six, teams play two matches against opponents from the paired group who finished in different group-stage positions. Matchups are designed to avoid repeat group encounters entirely.
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This year’s World Cup will be hosted by Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Key dates
A total of 39 matches will be played, and the tournament will kick off on January 15 with the India vs the United States of America match at Bulawayo. All matches will start from 9.30 am local time (IST 1 PM). The semi-finals will be played on February 3rd and 4th, while the final is set to be played on 6th February.
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Where to watch in India?
The tournament will be broadcast by Star Sports, and those who want to stream it can watch it on Jio Hotstar.
India’s legacy and dominance
Team India has won the trophy five times, which is the most by any team. Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Md Kaif, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Abhishek Sharma, everyone came up from this stage.
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In 2000, Mohammad Kaif led the team to the first-ever U-19 World Cup while Yuvraj Singh was named the man of the match at that final. Virat Kohli led the team to win in 2008, while Unmukt Chand and company won the trophy in 2012. India also won the trophy in 2018 under the leadership of Prithvi Shaw, while Shubman Gill won the man of the series award, and the last trophy came in 2022 under the leadership of Yash Dhull. Notably, India played five finals consecutively in 2016 under Ishan Kishan’s leadership, where they faced defeat from the West Indies. In 2018, India won. In 2020, they faced defeat against Bangladesh. In 2022, they won, and in 2024, Uday Shahran and company faced defeat by Australia.
Indian squad for this year world cup
Ayush Mhatre (c), Vihaan Malhotra, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Aaron George, Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu, Harvansh Singh, R.S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan A. Patel, Mohamed Enaan, Henil Patel, D. Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan.
