2026 World Baseball Classic

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is an international professional baseball tournament between 20 national baseball teams, planned to be the sixth iteration of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), and to be played from March 5 to 17, 2026.^[1] Its 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, for both semi-finals and final will be played in Miami.^[2]

2026 World Baseball Classic

Tournament details
Countries	Japan  Puerto Rico  United States
City	Houston, Texas Miami, Florida San Juan, Puerto Rico Tokyo, Japan
Dates	March 5–17, 2026
Teams	20
← 2023

Japan is the defending champion, having defeated the United States in the 2023 WBC championship game.^[3]

Teams

Qualification

Main article: 2026 World Baseball Classic qualification

16 teams qualified for the 2026 WBC tournament by virtue of having placed in the top four of their respective pools in the 2023 World Baseball Classic tournament.

Four additional teams qualified through the 2026 WBC qualifying tournament.^[4][5] The qualifying tournament included 8 teams, downsized from the 12 teams that had competed in the 2023 WBC qualifiers. The first pool took place in Taipei, and included Chinese Taipei, Spain, Nicaragua, and South Africa; the second pool took place in Tucson, Arizona, and included Colombia, China, Brazil, and Germany.^[6] The Taipei pool ran from February 21–25, 2025, and the Tucson pool ran from March 2–6, 2025.^[7]

Colombia, Nicaragua, Brazil, and Chinese Taipei all qualified for the 2026 WBC. China failed to qualify for the first time in a major baseball tournament, as it was eliminated after it lost all three of its games in the qualifiers.

Qualified teams

Region	Team	Qualification method	Prev. apps	Previous best result	WBSC world ranking1[8]
Americas	Brazil	Qualifiers Pool B 2nd-place playoff winner	1	Pool stage (2013)	22
	Canada	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool C 3rd place	5	Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023)	20
	Colombia	Qualifiers Pool B winner	2	Pool stage (2017, 2023)	13
	Cuba	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A winner	5	Runners-up (2006)	9
	Dominican Republic	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool D 3rd place	5	Champions (2013)	12
	Mexico	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool C winner	5	3rd place (2023)	6
	Nicaragua	Qualifiers Pool A winner	1	Pool stage (2023)	16
	Panama	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A 4th place	3	Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2023)	8
	Puerto Rico	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool D Runners-up	5	Runners-up (2013, 2017)	7
	United States	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool C Runners-up	5	Champions (2017)	3
	Venezuela	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool D winner	5	4th place (2009)	5
Asia	Chinese Taipei	Qualifiers Pool A Second-place playoff winner	5	Quarterfinals (2013)	2
	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	Czechia	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)	19
	Israel	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool D 4th place	2	Quarterfinals (2017)	21
	Italy	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A Runners-up	5	Quarterfinals (2013, 2023)	14
	Netherlands	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A 3rd place	5	4th place (2013, 2017)	10
Oceania	Australia	2023 World Baseball Classic Pool B Runners-up	5	Quarterfinals (2023)	11

¹ Ranking as of November 11, 2025

Draw

The pools and schedule were announced on August 21, 2024.^[9] The teams that advanced from the qualifiers were added on April 9, 2025.^[10] The pool assignments prioritized the hosts (Japan, Puerto Rico, and the United States). The remaining pool assignments were made based on WBSC World Rankings, competitive balance, and commercial and geographic interest.

Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the WBSC World Rankings at the time of the draw.^[11]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5
Japan (1) (H)  United States (5) (H)  Puerto Rico (9) (H)  Venezuela (3)	Mexico (4)  South Korea (6)  Netherlands (7)  Panama (8)	Cuba (10)  Dominican Republic (11)  Australia (12)  Italy (14)	Czech Republic (15)  Great Britain (18)  Israel (19)  Canada (22)	Chinese Taipei (2)[A]  Colombia (13)[B]  Nicaragua (16)[C]  Brazil (23)[D]

Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the WBSC World Rankings at the time of the draw. The decimal number represents the average ranking in the designated pool.

Pot	Pool A (12.4)	Pool B (12.8)	Pool C (7.2)	Pool D (11.2)
	San Juan	Houston	Tokyo	Miami
Pot 1	Puerto Rico (9) (H)	United States (5) (H)	Japan (1) (H)	Venezuela (3)
Pot 2	Panama (8)	Mexico (4)	South Korea (6)	Netherlands (7)
Pot 3	Cuba (10)	Italy (14)	Australia (12)	Dominican Republic (11)
Pot 4	Canada (22)	Great Britain (18)	Czechia (15)	Israel (19)
Pot 5	Colombia (13)	Brazil (23)	Chinese Taipei (2)	Nicaragua (16)

Venues

The main tournament will be held in four stadiums.^[12]

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		Daikin Park		Tokyo Dome		LoanDepot Park
Capacity: 19,125		Capacity: 41,168		Capacity: 45,600		Capacity: 36,742
San Juan			Houston Miami
Tokyo

Pre-WBC friendly games

To prepare for the tournament, teams will play friendly preparation games between November 2025 and March 2026.

South Korea played Czechia in two games on November 7–8 at a sold out Seoul Sky Dome, Korea won both.^[13][14] South Korea and Japan played two games later in November at the Tokyo Dome.^[15] Japan won the first game and both korea and Japan tied the second game.^[16] No MLB players were called to play in those games, as those games were used to test potential non-MLB players that would be part of the final roster decision in December and early-February.^[17]

After the final roster decisions, teams will make extra friendly games, Japan will make games in Miyazaki and at Nagoya Dome with Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and Chunichi Dragons respectively, meanwhile, Chinese Taipei will play against The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and SoftBank Hawks in a send-off series at Taipei Dome. ^[18][19]

In March, before the tournament, every team will play two last friendly games each, 14 of 15 teams of pools A, B and D against MLB teams at Spring Training sites in Florida and Arizona on March 3–4.^[20] The Dominican Republic, the lone team to not play in Arizona or Florida, will play the Detroit Tigers twice across the same two dates at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo.^[21] For pool C, Japan and Korea will play against the Orix Buffaloes and Hanshin Tigers main squads at the Osaka Dome. Australia, Chinese Taipei and Czechia will play against the NPB Farm squads of the Buffaloes, Yomiuri Giants and the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Miyazaki.^[22]

2025

Friendly Non-MLB Squads	November 8	Czech Republic	0–3	South Korea	Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul, South Korea
	14:03 KST	LP: Jan Novák	Boxscore	WP: Kim Keon-woo Sv: Jo Byeong-hyeon	Attendance: 16,100

Friendly Non-MLB Squads	November 9	South Korea	11–1	Czech Republic	Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul, South Korea
	14:00 KST	WP: Lee Min-seok HR: Lee Jae-won (1)	Boxscore	LP: Thomas Ondra	Attendance: 16,100

Friendly Non-MLB Squads	November 15	South Korea	4–11	Japan	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	18:36 JT	LP: Kim Taek-yeon HR: Ahn Hyun-min (1), Song Sung-mun (1)	Boxscore	WP: Yuki Matsumoto HR: Yukinori Kishida (1)	Attendance: 41,631

Friendly Non-MLB Squads	November 16	Japan	7–7	South Korea	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	19:08 JT		Boxscore	HR: Ahn Hyun-min (2), Kim Ju-won (1)	Attendance: 41,627

2026

Friendly	February 22	Japan	-	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	Sun Marine Stadium, Miyazaki, Japan
	1:00 JST

Friendly	February 23	Japan	-	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	Sun Marine Stadium, Miyazaki, Japan
	2:00 JST

Friendly	February 26	Chinese Taipei	-	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	Taipei Dome New Taipei City, Taiwan

Friendly	February 27	Japan	-	Chunichi Dragons	Vantelin Dome Nagoya, Nagoya, Japan
	7:00 JST

Friendly	February 27	Chinese Taipei	-	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	Taipei Dome New Taipei City, Taiwan

Friendly	February 28	Japan	-	Chunichi Dragons	Vantelin Dome Nagoya, Nagoya, Japan
	7:00 JST

Friendly	March 2	Chinese Taipei	-	Orix Buffaloes (farm)	SOKKEN Stadium, Miyazaki, Japan
	11:00 JST

Friendly	March 2	Australia	-	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (farm)	Sun Marine Stadium, Miyazaki, Japan
	11:00 JST

Friendly	March 2	South Korea	-	Hanshin Tigers	Kyocera Dome Osaka, Osaka, Japan
	12:00 JST

Friendly	March 2	Czech Republic	-	Yomiuri Giants (farm)	Sun Marine Stadium, Miyazaki, Japan
	6:00 JST

Friendly	March 2	Japan	-	Orix Buffaloes	Kyocera Dome Osaka, Osaka, Japan
	7:00 JST

Friendly	March 3	Chinese Taipei	-	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (farm)	SOKKEN Stadium, Miyazaki, Japan
	11:00 JST

Friendly	March 3	Australia	-	Yomiuri Giants (farm)	Sun Marine Stadium, Miyazaki, Japan
	11:00 JST

Friendly	March 3	South Korea	-	Orix Buffaloes	Kyocera Dome Osaka, Osaka, Japan
	12:00 JST

Friendly	March 2	Czech Republic	-	Orix Buffaloes (farm)	Sun Marine Stadium, Miyazaki, Japan
	6:00 JST

Friendly	March 3	Japan	-	Hanshin Tigers	Kyocera Dome Osaka, Osaka, Japan
	7:00 JST

Friendly	March 3	Brazil	-	Athletics	Hohokam Stadium, Mesa, Arizona
	1:05 MST

Friendly	March 3	Venezuela	-	Houston Astros	Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Florida

Friendly	March 3	United States	-	San Francisco Giants	Scottsdale Stadium, Scottsdale, Arizona

Friendly	March 3	Italy	-	Chicago Cubs	Sloan Park, Mesa, Arizona

Friendly	March 3	Great Britain	-	Milwaukee Brewers	American Family Fields of Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona

Friendly	March 3	Cuba	-	Kansas City Royals	Surprise Stadium, Surprise, Arizona

Friendly	March 3	Israel	-	Miami Marlins	Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter, Florida

Friendly	March 3	Nicaragua	-	New York Mets	Clover Park, Port St. Lucie, Florida

Friendly	March 3	Colombia	-	Pittsburgh Pirates	LECOM Park, Bradenton, Florida

Friendly	March 3	Netherlands	-	Baltimore Orioles	Ed Smith Stadium, Sarasota, Florida

Friendly	March 3	Puerto Rico	-	Boston Red Sox	JetBlue Park, Lee County, Florida

Friendly	March 3	Panama	-	New York Yankees	George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, Florida

Friendly	March 3	Canada	-	Toronto Blue Jays	TD Ballpark, Dunedin, Florida

Friendly	March 3	Mexico	-	Arizona Diamondbacks	Salt River Fields, Scottsdale, Arizona

Friendly	March 3	Detroit Tigers	-	Dominican Republic	Estadio Quisqueya, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Friendly	March 4	Brazil	-	Texas Rangers	Surprise Stadium, Surprize, Arizona
	1:05 MST

Friendly	March 4	Venezuela	-	Washington Nationals	Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Florida

Friendly	March 4	United States	--	Colorado Rockies	Salt River Fields, Scottsdale, Arizona

Friendly	March 4	Mexico	-	Los Angeles Dodgers	Camelback Ranch, Glendale, Arizona

Friendly	March 4	Great Britain	-	San Diego Padres	Peoria Stadium, Peoria, Arizona

Friendly	March 4	Cuba	-	Cincinnati Reds	Goodyear Ballpark, Goodyear, Arizona

Friendly	March 4	Italy	-	Los Angeles Angels	Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

Friendly	March 4	Colombia	-	Atlanta Braves	CoolToday Park, North Port, Florida

Friendly	March 4	Israel	-	New York Mets	Clover Park, Port St. Lucie, Florida

Friendly	March 4	Canada	-	Philadelphia Phillies	BayCare Ballpark, Clearwater, Florida

Friendly	March 4	Nicaragua	-	St. Louis Cardinals	Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter, Florida

Friendly	March 4	Netherlands	-	Tampa Bay Rays	Charlotte Sports Park, Port Charlotte, Florida

Friendly	March 4	Panama	-	Detroit Tigers	Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland, Florida

Friendly	March 4	Puerto Rico	-	Minnesota Twins	Hammond Stadium, Lee County, Florida

Friendly	March 4	Detroit Tigers	-	Dominican Republic	Estadio Quisqueya, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Pool stage

Scheduled locations and dates are as follows:^[10]

Pool A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Puerto Rico (H)	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	Advance to knockout stage
2	Cuba	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
3	Canada	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
4	Panama	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
5	Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	—	—

First games will be played: March 6, 2026. Source: MLB
(H) Hosts

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
Mar 6, 2026	12:00 AST	Cuba	–	Panama		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 6, 2026	19:00 AST	Puerto Rico	–	Colombia		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 7, 2026	12:00 AST	Colombia	–	Canada		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 7, 2026	19:00 AST	Panama	–	Puerto Rico		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 8, 2026	12:00 AST	Colombia	–	Cuba		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 8, 2026	19:00 AST	Panama	–	Canada		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 9, 2026	12:00 AST	Colombia	–	Panama		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 9, 2026	19:00 AST	Cuba	–	Puerto Rico		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 10, 2026	19:00 AST	Canada	–	Puerto Rico		Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Mar 11, 2026	15:00 AST	Canada	–	Cuba		Hiram Bithorn Stadium

Pool B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	United States (H)	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	Advance to knockout stage
2	Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
3	Italy	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
4	Great Britain	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
5	Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	—	—

First games will be played: March 6, 2026. Source: MLB
(H) Hosts

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
Mar 6, 2026	12:00 CST	Mexico	–	Great Britain		Daikin Park
Mar 6, 2026	19:00 CST	United States	–	Brazil		Daikin Park
Mar 7, 2026	12:00 CST	Brazil	–	Italy		Daikin Park
Mar 7, 2026	19:00 CST	Great Britain	–	United States		Daikin Park
Mar 8, 2026	12:00 CDT	Great Britain	–	Italy		Daikin Park
Mar 8, 2026	19:00 CDT	Brazil	–	Mexico		Daikin Park
Mar 9, 2026	12:00 CDT	Brazil	–	Great Britain		Daikin Park
Mar 9, 2026	19:00 CDT	Mexico	–	United States		Daikin Park
Mar 10, 2026	20:00 CDT	Italy	–	United States		Daikin Park
Mar 11, 2026	18:00 CDT	Italy	–	Mexico		Daikin Park

Pool C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Japan (H)	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	Advance to knockout stage
2	Australia	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
3	South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
4	Czechia	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
5	Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	—	—

First games will be played: March 5, 2026. Source: MLB
(H) Hosts

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
Mar 5, 2026	12:00 JST	Chinese Taipei	–	Australia		Tokyo Dome
Mar 5, 2026	19:00 JST	Czechia	–	South Korea		Tokyo Dome
Mar 6, 2026	12:00 JST	Australia	–	Czechia		Tokyo Dome
Mar 6, 2026	19:00 JST	Japan	–	Chinese Taipei		Tokyo Dome
Mar 7, 2026	12:00 JST	Chinese Taipei	–	Czechia		Tokyo Dome
Mar 7, 2026	19:00 JST	South Korea	–	Japan		Tokyo Dome
Mar 8, 2026	12:00 JST	Chinese Taipei	–	South Korea		Tokyo Dome
Mar 8, 2026	19:00 JST	Australia	–	Japan		Tokyo Dome
Mar 9, 2026	19:00 JST	South Korea	–	Australia		Tokyo Dome
Mar 10, 2026	19:00 JST	Czechia	–	Japan		Tokyo Dome

Pool D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	Advance to knockout stage
2	Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
3	Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
4	Israel	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
5	Nicaragua	0	0	0	0	0	—	—

First games will be played: March 6, 2026. Source: MLB

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
Mar 6, 2026	12:00 EST	Netherlands	–	Venezuela		LoanDepot Park
Mar 6, 2026	19:00 EST	Nicaragua	–	Dominican Republic		LoanDepot Park
Mar 7, 2026	12:00 EST	Nicaragua	–	Netherlands		LoanDepot Park
Mar 7, 2026	19:00 EST	Israel	–	Venezuela		LoanDepot Park
Mar 8, 2026	12:00 EDT	Netherlands	–	Dominican Republic		LoanDepot Park
Mar 8, 2026	19:00 EDT	Nicaragua	–	Israel		LoanDepot Park
Mar 9, 2026	12:00 EDT	Dominican Republic	–	Israel		LoanDepot Park
Mar 9, 2026	19:00 EDT	Venezuela	–	Nicaragua		LoanDepot Park
Mar 10, 2026	19:00 EDT	Israel	–	Netherlands		LoanDepot Park
Mar 11, 2026	20:00 EDT	Dominican Republic	–	Venezuela		LoanDepot Park

Knockout stage

The top two teams from each pool will advance to the single elimination bracket. Houston will host two quarterfinal games, while the other two quarterfinals and the rest of the tournament will take place in Miami.^[10][23]

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Championship
	March 13 – Miami
	Runner-up Pool C
					March 15 – Miami
	Winner Pool D
					TBD
	March 13 – Houston
					TBD
	Runner-up Pool A
									March 17 – Miami
	Winner Pool B
									Winner SF1
	March 14 – Houston
									Winner SF2
	Runner-up Pool B
					March 16 – Miami
	Winner Pool A
					TBD
	March 14 – Miami
					TBD
	Runner-up Pool D
	Winner Pool C

Quarterfinals

If the United States advances, they will play their quarterfinal game on March 13, while if Japan advances, they will play on March 14, both regardless of pool stage position.^[10]

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
Mar 13, 2026		Runner-up Pool A	–	Winner Pool B		Daikin Park
Mar 13, 2026		Runner-up Pool C	–	Winner Pool D		LoanDepot Park
Mar 14, 2026		Runner-up Pool B	–	Winner Pool A		Daikin Park
Mar 14, 2026		Runner-up Pool D	–	Winner Pool C		LoanDepot Park

Semifinals

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
Mar 15, 2026		Winner QF TBD	–	Winner QF TBD		LoanDepot Park
Mar 16, 2026		Winner QF TBD	–	Winner QF TBD		LoanDepot Park

Final

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
Mar 17, 2026		Winner SF1	–	Winner SF2		LoanDepot Park

Broadcast

Territory	Rights holder(s)	Ref.
Japan	Netflix	[24]
	Nippon Hoso and Radiko (Audio Only)	[25]
Korea Republic	tvN	[26]
United States	Fox Sports (English)	[27]
	Fox Deportes (Spanish)
Taiwan	ELTA Sports (zh), EBC	[28]
Venezuela	Venevision

Notes

1. Qualifiers Pool A runners-up, team not determined at time of draw
2. Qualifiers Pool B winners, team not determined at time of draw
3. Qualifiers Pool A winners, team not determined at time of draw
4. Qualifiers Pool B runners-up, team not determined at time of draw