When & Where Will Be The Next Under-19 Cricket World Cup Held?

The cricket fans who witnessed the 50-over World cup will get to see one more major tournament in a matter of months.

Yes, the Under-19 Cricket World Cup is just months away and it will be hosted by South Africa.

The ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup South Africa 2024 will feature sixteen teams, competing in a total of 41 matches. Eleven teams secured automatic qualification based on their performance as the best-placed Full Member nations in the previous 2022 event. These teams include Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Zimbabwe.

The remaining five positions were determined through regional qualification pathways. The Americas and EAP regions hosted qualifying events in 2023, with the respective winners earning spots at the U19 Men's Cricket World Cup. In Africa, Asia, and Europe, a two-step qualification structure involved Division 2 Qualifiers in 2022 and subsequent Regional Qualifiers in 2023.

Qualification for the Sri Lanka 2024 event was exclusively granted to the victors from the Regional Qualifiers. Notably, Nepal secured their spot through the Asia Qualifier, New Zealand advanced as winners of the East Asia Pacific Qualifier, Namibia triumphed in the Africa Qualifier, Scotland emerged victorious in the Europe Qualifier, and the USA secured the final position by defeating hosts Canada in a decisive fixture.

On the other hand, the ICC Board on Tuesday shifted the next year's men's Under-19 World Cup from Sri Lanka to South Africa, 11 days after the world governing body provisionally suspended the cricket body in the island nation due to government interference.

"The U19 World Cup has been shifted to South Africa from Sri Lanka due to SLC's suspension. In fact, participating nations were apprised some days back after SLC got suspended. South Africa hosted the U19 WC in 2020. The decision got approval at ICC Board meeting in Ahmedabad," an ICC Board member told PTI.

"Sri Lanka's bilateral and domestic cricket will not be affected by this." SLC president Shammi Silva had recently warned that the country could lose the hosting rights of the U19 World Cup, scheduled to be held from January 13 to February 4, if the government's interference continued.