Photo Credit: ICC
Young Dutch stars clinch U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Division 2 Europe Qualifier with tense victory over Sweden on Tuesday
– Hosts Denmark overcome Italy to secure the third and final spot in next year’s U19 Europe Qualifier on the road to Zimbabwe and Namibia
The Netherlands came out on top in a tense battle against Sweden to win the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 Europe Division 2 Qualifier on Tuesday following a competitive week of action in Denmark.
Chasing a modest 87 for victory, the Dutch side reached the target with four wickets to spare to seal their triumph and progress to next year’s U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Europe Qualifier as winners of Division 2.
Shirsak Banerjee -later named Man of the Tournament- and Azzam Khan were the chief architects of the win in Brondby, taking three wickets apiece to keep Sweden to a low total. In response, despite falling to 50 for five at one stage, Aadit Jain and Mark Wolfe steered the Dutch over the line to cue the celebrations.
The two finalists had enjoyed an impressive competition prior to Tuesday’s final, and both had already secured their progress through to the next stage of qualification thanks to victory in their respective semi-finals on Sunday.
Speaking after Tuesday’s victory, Netherlands captain Cedric de Lange said: “We are very pleased to win this Division 2 qualifier and ultimately qualify for the Europe Qualifier in 2025. With another year of learning and development under our belt we hope to compete and challenge for the Europe Qualifier title and earn our spot at the U19 World Cup.”
Sweden captain Bilal Khattak: “We are very honoured to have participated in this competition and we are very pleased to have qualified to the next stage in 2nd place. We would like to thank The ICC and Danish cricket for organising this tournament very well and thank all ICC officials for their professionalism shown, giving us the opportunity to compete in an international standard tournament. We are excited with the chance of testing ourselves in next year’s Europe Qualifier”
Elsewhere, Denmark won a decisive encounter against Italy in Glostrup, to grab the third qualification spot on offer thanks to an impressive 85-run win, highlighted by stellar bowling performances courtesy of Jabran Khan (four wickets for seven runs) and Muhammad Iyas Zawar (three wickets for four runs).
Denmark captain, Mustakim Aslam: “It was a great week for personal development, and for the team. We bonded much more as a team, and that showed in our game. We had a great experience. We are now looking forward to playing next year in the Europe Qualifier, we have worked hard for it and in the end it all paid off.”
The three teams now look ahead to the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Europe Qualifier next year, where they will go head-to-head with Guernsey, Jersey and Scotland with tickets to Zimbabwe and Namibia on the line.
