Online Reporter
US became the 16th and final team to qualify for the 2026 Under-19 men’s World Cup.
The 50-over tournament will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia, with the former, being a Full Member nation, gaining automatic qualification to the event alongside the top ten teams in the 2024 edition of the tournament.
India and Australia, the previous edition’s finalists, along with Bangladesh, England, Ireland, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies, directly qualified for the tournament.
The remaining five spots were awarded to the winners of the regional qualifiers. In the Africa Qualifier, Tanzania beat Namibia before booking the spot after a dominant win over Kenya.
Namibia will miss out on the tournament after their unsuccessful run in the qualifiers because only Full Member host nations secure an automatic spot.
Afghanistan booked the spot with a better run-rate in the Asia Qualifier after their match with Nepal, on equal points, was washed out. Japan clinched the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier, while Scotland booked their place after a tense last day of play against Netherlands in the Europe Qualifier.
US won the Americas Qualifier, winning against Canada, Bermuda, and Argentina to finish top of the table.
The 16 qualified teams will be divided into four groups, following which the top three teams from each group will progress to the Super Sixes stage.
The top two from each Super Sixes group will then face each other in the semi-finals.
India are the most successful team in the competition with five titles, while defending champions Australia have four. — ESPNcricinfo/ Zimpapers Sports Hub
