BANGKOK: Saudi Arabia U19s will be looking to emulate the senior team, who recently completed nine consecutive wins in Bangkok to win the ACC Challenger Cup and the Thailand Quadrangular T20 competitions, as they get their ICC World Cup campaign underway.

The qualification pathway for the next ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, which will be held in Zimbabwe and Namibia in 2026, started on Sunday and Saudi Arabia’s first match against Oman gets underway on Monday.

The long qualification process has begun just two weeks after the final of the 2024 tournament was won by Australia U19s, who beat India U19s by 79 runs at Benoni in South Africa as the packed schedule of international cricket starts its next cycle.

The Division 2 Asia Qualifier serves as the first stage in the qualification program for the 2026 tournament, which will see teams from Africa, the Americas, Asia, East Asia Pacific and Europe attempt to reach the tournament proper and join the pre-qualified teams.

The division will see eight teams compete in 50-over matches for two places in the Division 1 Asia Qualifier. Bahrain, Thailand, Kuwait and Malaysia play each other in Group A while Oman, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Bhutan play each other in Group B.

After their fixture with Oman, the young Greens will face Bhutan at Terdthai Cricket Ground on Wednesday and Hong Kong at the same venue on Friday.

Saudi Arabia will be hoping they can get a good result against Oman, arguably their toughest fixture, and put themselves in a strong position for qualification for the next stage and the chance to play some of the strongest sides in Asia.