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2026 World Baseball Classic

Tournament details
Countries	Japan Puerto Rico United States
Dates	March 5–17, 2026
Teams	20
← 2023

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is an upcoming international professional baseball tournament, planned to be the sixth iteration of the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The pool play rounds will be played in Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Tokyo, Japan. The quarterfinals will be split between Miami and Houston, and the final round will be played in Miami.

Japan are the defending champions after they defeated the United States 3–2 in the 2023 championship game.

Teams

Qualification

16 teams qualified for the 2026 tournament by being in the top four of their pool in the 2023 tournament. 4 other participants will be determined through the qualifying tournament.

In January 2024, it was reported that WBCI officials were evaluating two stadiums in Colombia, Estadio Édgar Rentería in Barranquilla and Estadio Once de Noviembre in Cartagena, as potential hosts for the 2026 qualifiers. If selected, it would have been the first time that Colombia hosted a World Baseball Classic-affiliated competition, and their first major international tournament since the 1970 Amateur World Series.

On September 24, 2024, Francys Romero reported that the qualifiers for the 2026 tournament would include 8 teams, downsizing from the 12 that participated in the 2023 qualifiers. Per Romero, the first pool will take place in Taipei from February 19-26, 2025, to include Chinese Taipei, Spain, Nicaragua, and South Africa; the second pool will take place in Tucson, Arizona from February 28 to March 7, 2025, to include Colombia, China, Brazil, Germany. The German Baseball and Softball Federation confirmed the dates of the Tucson pool on October 26. On November 12, 2024, WBCI officially announced the teams, format and schedule of the qualifiers, though with slightly different dates; the Taipei pool will run from February 21-25, and the Tucson pool from March 2-6.

Qualified teams

Region	Team	Qualification method	Prev. apps	Previous best result	WBSC World Rankings
Americas	Canada	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool C 3rd Place	5	Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023)	16
	Cuba	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A Winner	5	Runners-up (2006)	8
	Dominican Republic	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool D 3rd Place	5	Champions (2013)	9
	Mexico	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool C Winner	5	Third place (2023)	2
	Panama	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A 4th Place	3	Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2023)	10
	Puerto Rico	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool D Runner-Up	5	Runners-up (2013, 2017)	12
	United States	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool C Runner-Up	5	Champions (2017)	3
	Venezuela	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool D Winner	5	Fourth place (2009)	6
Asia	Japan	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool B Winner	5	Champions (2006, 2009, 2023)	1
	South Korea	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool B 3rd Place	5	Runners-up (2009)	4
Europe	Czech Republic	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool B 4th Place	1	Pool stage (2023)	15
	Great Britain	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool C 4th Place	1	Pool stage (2023)	18
	Israel	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool D 4th Place	2	Quarterfinals (2017)	19
	Italy	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A Runner-Up	5	Quarterfinals (2013, 2023)	14
	Netherlands	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A 3rd Place	5	Fourth place (2013, 2017)	7
Oceania	Australia	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool B Runner-Up	5	Quarterfinals (2023)	11

Venues

The main tournament will be held in four stadiums.

Pool A		Pool B & Quarterfinals		Pool C		Pool D, Quarterfinals, Semis and Championship
San Juan, Puerto Rico		Houston, United States		Tokyo, Japan		Miami, United States
Hiram Bithorn Stadium		Minute Maid Park		Tokyo Dome		LoanDepot Park
Capacity: 18,264		Capacity: 41,168		Capacity: 45,600		Capacity: 36,742
San Juan			HoustonMiami
Tokyo

Draw

The pools and schedule were announced on August 21, 2024.

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
San Juan	Houston	Tokyo	Miami
Puerto Rico	United States	Japan	Venezuela
Cuba	Mexico	Australia	Dominican Republic
Canada	Italy	South Korea	Netherlands
Panama	Great Britain	Czech Republic	Israel
TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

References

1. "Classic will return in 2026, Commissioner confirms". MLB.com. March 21, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
2. Tokyo, San Juan, Houston and Miami announced as World Baseball Classic 2026 hosts
3. "Japan tops Team USA in dramatic finish to claim 3rd Classic title". MLB.com. March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
4. Clair, Michael (March 10, 2023). "No surprise here: Ohtani dominates on hill, at plate". MLB.com. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
5. "Tokyo, San Juan, Houston and Miami announced as World Baseball Classic 2026 hosts". MLB.com. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
6. "Cartagena busca ser subsede del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol en 2026" (in Spanish). Primer Tiempo. January 19, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
7. Francys Romero (September 24, 2024). "Pools for the WBC Qualifiers- 2025, per sources. It will be the first time with only 8 teams" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. "Rahmenterminplan 2025 (Stand 26.10.2024) (PDF)" (PDF). Baseball-softball.de (in German). German Baseball Softball Federation.
9. Jeff Duda (November 2, 2024). "German baseball federation confirmed dates of WBC qualifier in Arizona as February 28-March 7. Official announcement should be very soon now. I'd guess early next week" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
10. "World Baseball Classic Qualifiers announced". MLB.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
11. "WBSC Rankings - Men's baseball on 28/06/21". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
12. "Tokyo, San Juan, Houston and Miami announced as World Baseball Classic 2026 host". MLB.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
13. "World Baseball Classic 2026 pools, dates announced". MLB.com. Retrieved August 23, 2024.

External links

• Official website

• 2026 World Baseball Classic
• World Baseball Classic
• 2026 in baseball
• Scheduled sports events