look news india
New Delhi, August 17 (HS). Nepal will host the ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025 in Kathmandu from April 12 to 21, 2025. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) confirmed the above. The winner of this Division 1 event will qualify for the ICC Men's Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2026.
CAN also added in its 'X' account that apart from hosts Nepal, Afghanistan, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore and UAE will take part in the qualifying tournament for the Asian region. Oman and Hong Kong qualified for the event by being finalists from the Division 2 tournament.
Nepal participated in the 2024 ICC Men's Under-19 Cricket World Cup held in South Africa this year, where they qualified for the Super Six stage after registering a thrilling one-wicket win against Afghanistan at Buffalo Park in East London. The Men's Under-19 World Cup 2026 will be held in Zimbabwe and Namibia, where 16 teams will compete in the tournament, five of which will come from regional qualifiers.
Australia will go into the competition as defending champions after defeating India by 79 runs in the 2024 Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup final in February.
Besides hosts Zimbabwe and Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies have secured automatic qualification for the event, scheduled to be held in early 2026.
This will also be the sixteenth edition of the competition which began in 1988 and is now a biennial event in the cricket calendar. India have won the Men's Under-19 World Cup on a record five occasions, while Australia have won four times. Pakistan have emerged victorious twice, while Bangladesh, England, South Africa and West Indies have won once each.