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2026 World Baseball Classic
Upcoming international baseball tournament From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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, and the semi-finals and finals will be played in Miami.[2]
Japan is the defending champion, having defeated the United States in the 2023 WBC championship game.[3]
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Teams
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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.[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.
The 2026 WBC teams
The 20 national teams that have qualified to compete in the 2026 WBC are as follows:
1 Ranking as of December 31, 2024
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Venues
The main tournament will be held in four stadiums.[9]
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Draw
The pools and schedule were announced on August 21, 2024.[10] The teams that advanced from the qualifiers were added on April 9, 2025.[11]
Pool stage
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Scheduled locations and dates are as follows:[11]
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D
First games will be played: March 6, 2026. Source: MLB
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Knockout stage
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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.[11]
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship | ||||||||
| March 13 – Houston | ||||||||||
| Runner-up Pool A | ||||||||||
| March 15 – Miami | ||||||||||
| Winner Pool B | ||||||||||
| TBD | ||||||||||
| March 14 – Houston | ||||||||||
| TBD | ||||||||||
| Runner-up Pool B | ||||||||||
| March 17 – Miami | ||||||||||
| Winner Pool A | ||||||||||
| Winner SF1 | ||||||||||
| March 13 – Miami | ||||||||||
| Winner SF2 | ||||||||||
| Runner-up Pool C | ||||||||||
| March 16 – Miami | ||||||||||
| Winner Pool D | ||||||||||
| 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.[11]
Semifinals
Final
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Broadcast
References
External links
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