ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Europe Qualifier (formerly ICC Europe Under-19 Championships) are a series of regular cricket tournaments organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the European qualifier for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. The tournament was originally organised by the European Cricket Council (ECC). Traditionally there have always been two divisions though the nature of these divisions has varied strongly over the years.
| Administrator | International Cricket Council |
|---|---|
| Format | One Day |
| First edition | 1999 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin |
| Number of teams | 15 (from 2011) |
| Current champion |  Scotland |
| Most successful | Scotland (9 titles) |
 2024 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup qualification | |
History
The first edition of the tournament was played in 1999 in Northern Ireland. The teams were split across two divisions, the more developed cricketing nations of Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands and Denmark joining England in the A Championship and three other associates, Gibraltar, Italy and Germany forming the B Championship. England won the tournament easily and would not participate again.
Following this inaugural competition, the higher, eventually referred to as Division One, was played every year between Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands and Denmark. Every other year, the Division Two tournament was also played alongside. In 2003, France debuted in the second division, later joined by Belgium and Israel in 2005 and by Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man in 2007.
In 2003, a different approach was taken with all the teams across both divisions participating in a preliminary qualification round. However, this did not affect the make-up of the divisions whatsoever as the four more developed nations easily overpowered the others and cemented their position in Division One. After this the system was abandoned and the old format was reintroduced the following year.
A fresh initiative for the 2006 edition was a new two-day format for Division One. The aim of this was to provide the players with some practice for the style of multi-day play encountered in the Intercontinental Cup. The one-day format returned the following year.[2]
2007 saw the two divisions being played separately for the first time when Division One was located in Ireland, but the nine-team Division Two was played in Jersey. This was Jersey's first ever European cricket competition.
Another change was made to the division format in 2009 when Jersey and Guernsey were relocated into Division One. This evened out the number of teams across the divisions and a win from Jersey over Denmark demonstrated their ability to play in the top flight. As a result, the two teams remained for the 2010 tournament where both teams performed even better than the previous year.
Plans have been unveiled that in 2011, for the first time, there will be a chance of promotion from Division Two. The total number of participants will also be increased from thirteen to fifteen.[3]
Tournament results
Division One
| Year | Host(s) | Venue(s) | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Margin | Runner-up | |||
| 1999 |  Northern Ireland | Belfast |  England185/5 (43.2 overs) | England won by 5 wickets (needed 184 in 48 overs) scorecard |  Ireland190/8 (50 overs) |
| 2000 | England | Northampton | Ireland 6 points | Ireland won on points table |  Netherlands2 points |
| 2001 | Scotland | Edinburgh | Scotland 6 points | Scotland won on points table | Ireland 4 points |
| 2002 | England | Oundle | Scotland 6 points | Scotland won on points table |  Denmark4 points |
| 2003 | Netherlands | Deventer | Ireland 6 points | Ireland won on points table | Scotland 2 points |
| 2004 | England | Oundle | Ireland 4 points | Ireland and Scotland drew on points table | Scotland 4 points |
| 2005 | Scotland | Dundee | Scotland 6 points | Scotland won on points table | Ireland 4 points |
| 2006 | Northern Ireland | Belfast | Ireland 59 points | Ireland won on points table | Scotland 37 points |
| 2007 | Northern Ireland | Belfast | Ireland 6 points | Ireland won on points table | Scotland 4 points |
| 2008 | Scotland | Glasgow | Scotland +3.49 NRR | Scotland won on net run rate table | Ireland +1.22 NRR |
| 2009 |  Jersey | various | Ireland +1.69 NRR | Ireland won on net run rate table | Netherlands +1.45 NRR |
| 2010 | Northern Ireland | Belfast | Scotland 10 points | Scotland won on points table | Ireland 8 points |
| 2013 | Netherlands | various | Scotland 10 points | Scotland won on points table | Ireland 6 points |
| 2015 | Jersey | various | Scotland +1.036 NRR | Scotland won on net run rate table | Ireland +0.793 NRR |
| 2017 | Jersey | various | Ireland 12 points | Ireland won on points table | Scotland 8 points |
| 2019 | Netherlands | various | Scotland 10 points | Scotland won on points table | Ireland 8 points |
| 2021 |  Spain | Almería | Ireland 144 | Ireland won by 78 runs scorecard | Scotland 66 |
| 2023 | Netherlands | various | Scotland 9 points | Scotland won on points table |  Guernsey5 points |
Division Two
| Year | Host | Venue(s) | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Result | Runner-up | |||
| 1999 | Northern Ireland | Belfast |  Gibraltar7 points | Gibraltar won on points table |  Italy5 points |
| 2001 | Scotland | Edinburgh |  Germany6 points | Germany won on points table | Italy 4 points |
| 2003 | Netherlands | Deventer | Germany 6 points | Germany won on points table | Italy 4 points |
| 2005 | Scotland | Dundee | Gibraltar 10 points | Gibraltar won on points table |  Israel8 points |
| 2007 | Jersey | various | Jersey 4 points | Jersey won on points table | Guernsey 2 points |
| 2009 |  Belgium | Antwerp | Belgium +1.71 (NRR) | Belgium won on net run rate table |  Isle of Man+1.67 (NRR) |
| 2011 | Isle of Man | various | Denmark 140 (39 overs) | Denmark won by 60 runs scorecard | Isle of Man 80 (34.2 overs) |
| 2014 | England | Essex | Jersey +3.29 (NRR) | Jersey won on net run rate table | Netherlands +2.69 (NRR) |
| 2016 | Netherlands | various | Denmark 12 points | Denmark won on points table | Netherlands 6 points |
| 2018 | England | various | Netherlands 281/6 (50 overs) | Netherlands won by 154 runs scorecard |  France127 (40.5 overs) |
| 2022 | Guernsey | various | Italy 170/4 (38 overs) | Italy won by 6 wickets scorecard | Guernsey 169 (47 overs) |
Participating teams (Division One)
- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- – Hosts
- X – Qualified but withdrew
| Team | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2021 | 2023 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 6th | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 5th | 6th | 5th | ― | 4th | 5th | X | ― | 15 |
 England | 1st | Automatically qualified | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
 France | — | — | — | ― | — | — | — | — | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | 6th | ― | ― | 1 |
 Guernsey | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | 6th | 5th | 6th | ― | ― | ― | X | 2nd | 4 |
 Ireland | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | AQ | 17 |
 Italy | — | — | — | ― | — | — | — | — | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | 6th | 1 |
 Jersey | — | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | 4th | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 8 |
 Netherlands | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 3rd | 4th | ― | 4th | 3rd | 4th | 17 |
 Norway | — | — | — | ― | — | — | — | — | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | 5th | 1 |
 Scotland | 4th | 4th | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 18 |