Nigeria coach upbeat ahead of U-19 Cricket W’Cup qualifiers

Head coach of Nigeria’s male U-19 cricket team, Daniel Gim, is confident that the Junior Yellow Greens are in a good position to snatch the sole ticket to the 2026 ICC U-19 World Cup in Namibia and Zimbabwe as the country hosts the qualifiers in Lagos, NewsNGR Sports Extra reports.

Nigeria will host five other African countries—Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone—from March 26 to April 6, as the six countries vie for Africa’s sole ticket to the tournament.

Gim’s team has been putting the finishing touches to their preparations, as their opponents will start arriving in the country on Tuesday (today).

“We started the whole camping with 28 boys and we did a series of games before we started short-listing them from 28 to 24, to 17 and before the final 14-man team.

“I feel we are in a very good position and the team is in good spirits to go into the tournament. We are well prepared.” Gim said.

After the arrival of all the teams on Wednesday, the qualifiers will begin with two thrilling opening encounters on Friday, March 28 as Nigeria will face Namibia at the TBS Oval, while Kenya will take on Sierra Leone at the UNILAG Oval.

The Junior Yellow Greens are seeing a second appearance at the men’s U-19 World Cup and Gim believes his team will ride on the all-round excellence of Nigerian cricket as well as being hosts of the competition.

“Generally, it has been excellence all around for all Nigeria national cricket teams and that will be extra motivation and hosting puts us one step ahead.

“We know the home ground. We know how the wickets work, and we are used to everything about the venue.”

All six countries will face off in a round-robin format and the eventual winner will earn the honour of representing Africa at the next World Cup.

Nigeria has previously achieved this feat, securing the African ticket in 2019 and competing in the ICC U-19 Men’s World Cup hosted in South Africa in 2020.