Explained | All you need to know about ICC U19 World Cup 2024 format and everything else

The Under-19 ICC World Cup gets underway on January 19 in South Africa with India playing their first game on Saturday (Jan 20) against continental rivals Bangladesh. India U19s are placed in Group A with Ireland, USA and Bangladesh in the 16-team event divided into four groups. India's next two games after Saturday will be against Ireland on January 25 and USA on January 28. All of India U19s group stage games will be played in Bloemfontein.

The 16 teams are divided into four groups of four teams each. Each team in a group will play the other three teams in the group stage. Below are four groups with each team in it:

Group A: India U19s, Bangladesh U19s, Ireland U19s, USA U19s
Group B: England U19s, Scotland U19s, South Africa U19s, West Indies U19s
Group C: Australia U19s, Namibia U19s, Sri Lanka U19s, Zimbabwe U19s
Group D: Afghanistan U19s, Nepal U19s, New Zealand U19s, Pakistan U19s

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The group stage fixtures will begin with the Group A match between Ireland U19s and USA U19s teams on January 19. The group stage will run till January 28 with Australia U19s and Sri Lanka U19s match of Group C being the last one.

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The tournament is being played in the Super Sixes format which means top three teams from each group will qualify for the Super Sixes stage. A total of 12 teams will enter the Super Sixes stage and will be divided into two groups of six teams each.

The top three teams from Group A and Group D each will be paired together in Group 1 while the top three teams each from Group B and Group C will be placed in Group 2 for the Super Sixes Stage.

In the Super Sixes stage a total of 12 games will be played and below are the fixtures:

The top team of Group A (A1) which is decided after the group stage fixtures will play two matches against the second and third placed team of the Group D, that is D2 and D3, in the Group 1 fixtures. Similarly, second placed team of the Group A (A2) decided after the group stage matches will play against D1 and D3 while the third placed Group A team (A3) will play its two games against top two teams of the Group D (D1 and D2).

The top team of Group B (B1) which is decided after the group stage fixtures will play two matches against the second and third placed team of the Group C, that is C2 and C3, in the Group 2 fixtures. Similarly, second placed team of the Group B (B2) decided after the group stage matches will play against C1 and C3 while the third placed Group B team (B3) will play its two games against top two teams of the Group C (C1 and C2).

The Super Sixes stage will kick off with the Group 1 fixture between A1 and D3 on January 30 and culminatewith the Group 2 fixture between B2 vs C3 on February 3.

A couple of 16th place playoff games will be played in between the Super Sixes games. The 16th place matches will be played on January 31 between the last finished teams of Group A and Group D, that is A4 and D4, and on February 1 between the last finished teams of Group B and Group C, that is B4 and C4.

The two teams from each Super Sixes groups, that is Group 1 and Group 2, will enter the semi-finals of the tournament.

The two semi-finals will be played on February 6 and February 8.

The final of the ICC U19 World Cup will be played on February 11.

The reserve day is available only for the semi-finals and final of the ICC U19 World Cup.

The two semi-finals and the final will be played in Benoni while the Super Sixes games will be played in Bloemfontein, Kimberley, and Potchefstroom apart from Benoni.

The group stage fixtures will be played in Bloemfontein, Kimberley, and Potchefstroom with East London being the fourth venue unlike in Super Sixes stage.