An international junior match was arranged first time in 1983 in Ry, Denmark, and then in 1984 (Hartberg, Austria) and 1985 (Font-Romeau, France).

From 1986 (in Pécs, Hungary) the events became the unofficial Junior European Championships, and were held the following years, 1987 (Ambleside, England), 1988 (Eupen, Belgium) and 1989 (Seefeld/Kufstein, Austria).

Current program (from 2024[1]) includes: Originally JWOC started with an Individual (Classic) competition followed by a relay.

From 2022 onward the Middle Distance Qualification has been replaced by the Sprint relay discipline with four runners in each team.

Since then, Matt Ogden (2012), Aston Key (2019), and Tim Robertson (2014 and 2015), are the only non-Europeans to win gold medals at the Junior World Championships.