Afghanistan announce squad for U19 World Cup 2026

The Under 19 World Cup 2026 kick starts in the next week and Afghanistan have announced their squad for the event. 19 year old Mahboob Khan will lead Afghanistan in the Under-19 World Cup due to begin

on January 15 in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Mahboob has already has significant leadership experience at youth ODI level, having led his country at the 2024 and 2025 Asia Cup.

Afghanistan had secured their spot in the Under 19 World Cup by winning the Asia Qualifier last year, during which they were unbeaten. They went Nepal on net run rate to secure their qualification. Last year, Afghanistan beat Nepal at the U19 Asia Cup.

Uzairullah Niazai will be one of their key batters in the squad and has had a prolific run on his last tour scoring 275 runs across four innings. Wahidullah Zadran will spearhead the bowling attack. Wahidullah has already played senior-level cricket at last year’s ILT20 tournament for Gulf Giants. He had also put his name up for the IPL auction last December which made him one of the youngest players on the list but he was unsold. In the spin department he will get support from left-arm spinner Zaitullah Shaheen and leg-spinner Hafeez Zadran.

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In the Under 19 World Cup, Afghanistan are placed in Group D alongside South Africa, Tanzania, and West Indies. The tournament starts on 15th January and a total of 24 matches will be played across the group stage. The tournament will kick off with the match between India and the United States. Afghanistan U19 will play on January 16 against South Africa, January 18 against West Indies and January 21 against Tanzania. All their matches will be played at Windhoek.

AFG U19 Squad: Mahboob Khan (capt), Khalid Ahmadzai, Osman Sadat, Faisal Khan, Uzairullah Niazai, Aziz Mia Khil, Nazif Amiri, Khatir Stanikzai, Nooristani Omarzai, Abdul Aziz, Salam Khan, Wahidullah Zadran, Zaitullah Shaheen, Rohullah Arab, Hafeez Zadran

Reserves: Aqil Khan, Fahim Qasemi, Izat Noor