The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup will see 16 teams compete for the coveted title in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Three matches will be played on the opening day on January 15th. The tournament’s opening day will feature action-packed matches, with India facing the USA, Scotland facing co-hosts Zimbabwe, and Tanzania facing the West Indies.
The 16th edition of the ICC Under-19 World Cup begins on Thursday (January 15), with five-time champions India taking on the USA in Bulawayo. Hosts Zimbabwe will face Scotland on the opening day, and debutants Tanzania will face the West Indies. The 16-team tournament will span 23 days and feature a total of 41 matches across five venues in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The 16 teams will be divided into four groups of four teams each in the group stage, consisting of 24 matches. The top three teams from each group will advance to the Super Six phase of the tournament. The 12 teams in the Super Six will be divided into two groups of six each, with the top three teams from Groups A and D playing together, while the top three teams from Groups B and C will be grouped.
Each team will play two matches in the Super Six stage of the tournament, against teams placed in different positions in the other group. For example, the top team in Group A1 will face the second and third-placed teams in Group D (D2 and D3). Furthermore, teams will advance to the Super Sixes based on points earned, wins, and net run rate against the teams from their respective groups.
The semi-finals will be held on February 3 and 4, followed by the title clash on February 6. Australia, who defeated India in the final of the 2024 edition, are the defending champions, while Tanzania will make their debut in the tournament. Through the ICC’s direct broadcast partnerships with major global broadcasters, every match of the tournament will be available to watch live worldwide.
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ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2026 – TV and Digital Coverage
In India, JioStar will deliver coverage through Star Sports on linear television networks and via the JioHotstar digital platform. The Star Sports linear channels will also be available to viewers in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal, and Bhutan. Coverage of all matches will be available in English, with India matches also broadcast in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. In Sub-Saharan Africa, SuperSport will provide live coverage of all matches across its linear and digital platforms.
Across the Americas, the tournament will be broadcast by ESPN in the Caribbean and South America, and by Willow TV in the USA and Canada, across both linear and digital platforms. ESPN’s coverage will also be available via the Disney+ app. Fans in the UK can watch the action on Sky Sports, while Amazon Prime Video will broadcast the event in Australia, and Sky TV will manage coverage in New Zealand.
Elsewhere, coverage will be provided by e& via the Criclife channel on Starzplay and linear TV in the Middle East and North Africa; Dialog in Sri Lanka; Myco, Tamasha, ARY Zapp and Tapmad for digital coverage in Pakistan; PTV and Geo Super for linear coverage in Pakistan; TSM via Rabbithole in Bangladesh; AF Sports and Lemar TV in Afghanistan; and PNG Digicel in the Pacific Islands.
Linear broadcast arrangements also exist in Singapore (Starhub), Malaysia (Astro), and Hong Kong (PCCW). Digital coverage in these territories, along with Afghanistan and all other territories, will be available via ICC.tv, the ICC’s owned and operated streaming platform. ICC TV will host broadcast coverage and provide the World Feed to all global broadcast partners, with JioStar responsible for global distribution of the World Feed. With these many options, fans from all over the World can watch the tournament.
ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2026 – Radio Coverage
World Feed audio coverage of the semi-finals and final will be available worldwide via the ICC website and mobile app, as well as BBC Test Match Special in the UK.
Official Broadcasting channels as per region:
India: JioHotstar (Digital), Star Sports (Linear)
Sri Lanka: Star Sports, Dialog
Nepal: Star Sports
Bangladesh: Star Sports, TSM via Rabbithole
Bhutan: Star Sports
Sub-Saharan Africa: SuperSport
Middle East and North Africa: Criclife
Caribbean and South America: ESPN
USA and Canada: WillowTV
United Kingdom: Sky Sports
New Zealand: Sky TV
Australia: Amazon Prime Video
Pakistan: Myco, Tamasha, ARY Zapp and Tapmad (Digital) PTV and Geo Super (Linear)
Afghanistan: AF Sports and Lemar TV
Pacific Islands: PNG Digicel
ICC.tv across all other regions.
ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2026 – Complete Squads
Australia: Oliver Peake (c), Kasey Barton, Naden Cooray, Jayden Draper, Ben Gordon, Steven Hogan, Thomas Hogan, John James, Charles Lachmund, Will Malajczuk, Nitesh Samuel, Hayden Schiller, Aryan Sharma, William Byrom, Alex Lee Young.
Ireland: Olly Riley (c), Reuben Wilson, Alex Armstrong, Callum Armstrong, Marko Bates, Sebastian Dijkstra, Thomas Ford, Samuel Haslett, Adam Leckey, Febin Manoj, Luke Murray, Robert O’Brien, Freddie Ogilby, James West, Bruce Whaley. Reserves: Peter le Roux, William Shields.
Japan: Kazuma Kato-Stafford (c), Charles Hara-Hinze, Gabriel Hara-Hinze, Montgomery Hara-Hinze, Kaisei Kobayashi-Doggett, Timothy Moore, Skyler Nakayama-Cook, Ryuki Ozeki, Nihar Parmar, Nikhil Pol, Chihaya Sekine, Hugo Tani-Kelly, Sandev Aaryan Waduge, Kai Wall, Taylor Waugh.
Sri Lanka: Vimath Dinsara (c), Kavija Gamage, Dimantha Mahavithana, Viran Chamuditha, Dulnith Sigera, Chamika Heentigala, Adam Hilmy, Chamarindu Nethsara, Sethmika Seneviratne, Kugathas Mathulan, Rasith Nimsara, Vigneshwaran Akash, Jeewantha Sriram, Senuja Wekunagoda, Malintha Silva.
Bangladesh: Azizul Hakim Tamim (c), Zawad Abrar, Samiun Basir Ratul, Sheikh Parvez Jibon, Rizan Hossan, Shaharia Al Amin, Shadin Islam, Md Abdullah, Farid Hasan Faysal, Kalam Siddiki Aleen, Rifat Beg, Saad Islam Razin, Al Fahad, Shahriar Ahmed, Iqbal Hossain. Reserves: Abdur Rahim, Debashis Sarkar Deba, Rafi Uzzaman Rafi, Farhan Shahriar, Farzan Ahmed Alif, Sanjid Majumder, Md Sobuj.
India: Ayush Mhatre (c), R.S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, D. Deepesh, Mohamed Enaan, Aaron George, Abhigyan Kundu, Kishan Kumar Singh, Vihaan Malhotra, Udhav Mohan, Henil Patel, Khilan A. Patel, Harvansh Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vedant Trivedi.
New Zealand: Tom Jones (c), Marco Alpe, Hugo Bogue, Harry Burns, Mason Clarke, Jacob Cotter, Aryan Mann, Brandon Matzopoulos, Flynn Morey, Snehith Reddy, Callum Samson, Jaskaran Sandhu, Selwin Sanjay, Hunter Shore, Luke Harrison.
USA: Utkarsh Srivastava (c), Adnit Jhamb, Shiv Shani, Nitish Sudini, Advaith Krishna, Sahir Bhatia, Arjun Mahesh, Amrinder Gill, Sabrish Prasad, Adit Kappa, Sahil Garg, Amogh Reddy Arepally, Ritvik Appidi, Rayaan Taj, Rishabh Shimpi.
England: Thomas Rew (c), Farhan Ahmed, Ralphie Albert, Will Bennison, Ben Dawkins, Caleb Falconer, Ali Farooq, Alex French, Alex Green, Luke Hands, Manny Lumsden, Ben Mayes, James Minto, Joe Moores, Sebastian Morgan.
Pakistan: Farhan Yousaf (c), Usman Khan, Abdul Subhan, Ahmed Hussain, Ali Hasan Baloch, Ali Raza, Daniyal Ali Khan, Hamza Zahoor, Huzaifa Ahsan, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Sayyam, Mohammad Shayan, Niqab Shafiq, Sameer Minhas, Umar Zaib. Reserves: Abdul Qadir, Farhanullah, Hassan Khan, Ibtisam Azhar, Mohammad Huzaifa.
Scotland: Thomas Knight (c), Finlay Carter, Max Chaplin, George Cutler, Rory Grant, Finlay Jones, Ollie Jones, Olly Pillinger, Ethan Ramsay, Theo Robinson, Manu Saraswat, Ram Sharma, Shreyas Tekale, Shlok Thaker, Jake Woodhouse.
Zimbabwe: Simbarashe Mudzengerere (c), Kian Blignaut, Michael Blignaut, Leeroy Chiwaula, Tatenda Chimugoro, Brendon Senzere, Nathaniel Hlabangana, Takudzwa Makoni, Panashe Mazai, Webster Madhidhi, Shelton Mazvitorera, Kupakwashe Muradzi, Brandon Ndiweni, Dhruv Patel, Benny Zuze.
Afghanistan: Mahboob Khan (c), Khalid Ahmadzai, Osman Sadat, Faisal Khan, Uzairullah Niazai, Aziz Mia Khil, Nazif Amiri, Khatir Stanikzai, Nooristani, Abdul Aziz, Salam Khan, Wahid Zadran, Zaitullah Shaheen, Rohullah Arab, Hafieez Zadran. Reserves: Aqil Khan, Fahim Qasemi, Izat Noor.
South Africa: Muhammad Bulbulia (c), JJ Basson, Daniel Bosman, Corne Botha, Paul James, Enathi Khitshini Tembalethu, Michael Kruiskamp, Adnaan Lagadien, Bayanda Majola, Armaan Manack, Bandile Mbatha, Lethabo Phahlamohlaka, Jason Rowles, Ntandoyenkosi Soni, Jorich van Schalkwyk.
Tanzania: Laksh Bakrania (c), Karim Kiseto, Hamza Ally, Khalidy Amiri, Abdulazak Mohamedi, Ayaan Shariff, Omary Ramadhani, Dylan Thakrar, Agustino Mwamele, Ally Hafidhi, Acrey Pascal (wk), Darpan Jobanputra, Mohammedi Simba, Raymond Francis, Alfred Daniel.
West Indies: Joshua Dorne (c), Jewel Andrew, Shamar Apple, Shaquan Belle, Zachary Carter, Tanez Francis, R’jai Gittens, Vitel Lawes, Micah McKenzie, Matthew Miller, Jakeem Pollard, Aadian Racha, Kunal Tilokani, Jonathan Van Lange. Reserves: Brendan Boodoo, Tyriek Bryan, Earsinho Fontaine, Deshawn James.
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ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2026 – Team Groupings
Group A: Australia, Ireland, Japan, Sri Lanka.
Group B: Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, USA.
Group C: England, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe.
Group D: Afghanistan, South Africa, Tanzania, West Indies.
ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2026 – Full Schedule
- January 15: India vs USA – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 15: Zimbabwe vs Scotland – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 15: Tanzania vs West Indies – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 16: England vs Pakistan – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 16: Australia vs Ireland – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 16: Afghanistan vs South Africa – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 17: Bangladesh vs India – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 17: Japan vs Sri Lanka – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 18: New Zealand vs USA – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 18: Zimbabwe vs England – Harare 1 PM IST
- January 18: Afghanistan vs West Indies – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 19: Pakistan vs Scotland – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 19: Ireland vs Sri Lanka – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 19: South Africa vs Tanzania – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 20: Bangladesh vs New Zealand – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 20: Australia vs Japan – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 21: Afghanistan vs Tanzania – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 21: England vs Scotland – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 22: South Africa vs West Indies – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 22: Ireland vs Japan – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 22: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 23: Australia vs Sri Lanka – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 23: Bangladesh vs USA – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 24: 16th Place Play-Off (A4 vs D4) – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 24: India vs New Zealand – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 25: Super Sixes Group 1 – A1 vs D3 – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 25: Super Sixes Group 1 – A3 vs D2 – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 26: 16th Place Play-Off (B4 vs C4) – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 26: Super Sixes Group 2 – B2 vs C1 – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 26: Super Sixes Group 1 – A2 vs D1 – Windhoek – 1 PM IST
- January 27: Super Sixes Group 2 – B3 vs C2 – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 27: Super Sixes Group 2 – B1 vs C3 – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 28: Super Sixes Group 1 – A1 vs D2 – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 29: Super Sixes Group 1 – A2 vs D3 – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 30: Super Sixes Group 1 – A3 vs D1 – Harare – 1 PM IST
- January 30: Super Sixes Group 2 – B3 vs C1 – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- January 31: Super Sixes Group 2 – B2 vs C3 – Harare – 1 PM IST
- February 1: Super Sixes Group 2 – B1 vs C2 – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- February 3: 1st Semifinal P1 (Group 1) vs P2 (Group 2) – Bulawayo – 1 PM IST
- February 4: 2nd Semifinal P2 (Group 1) vs P1 (Group 2) – Harare – 1 PM IST
- February 6: Final – Harare – 1 PM IST