2026 World Baseball Classic qualification

2026 World Baseball Classic qualifiers

Tournament details
Countries	Taiwan United States
Dates	February 21 – March 6, 2025[1]
Teams	8 (from 4 confederations)

The qualifying round of the 2026 World Baseball Classic will be held from February 21 to March 6, 2025. The top four teams in each pool of the 2023 World Baseball Classic automatically qualified for the 2026 tournament. The qualifiers will consist of two tournaments with four teams each, and will be held in Taipei, Taiwan, and Tucson, Arizona, United States. The winners and runners-up of each tournament will qualify for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.[1]

Qualified teams

Note: World ranking indicates positions in the latest WBSC World Rankings (September 18, 2024) at the time of the announcement of the qualifiers.[2]

Team	World ranking	Method of qualification	Classic appearance	Previous best position
Australia	15th	2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four	6th	Quarterfinals (2023)
Canada	22nd		6th	Pool stage
Cuba	9th		6th	Runners-up (2006)
Czech Republic	14th		2nd	Pool stage
Dominican Republic	12th		6th	Champions (2013)
Great Britain	18th		2nd	Pool stage
Israel	19th		3rd	Quarterfinals (2017)
Italy	13th		6th	Quarterfinals (2013, 2023)
Japan	1st		6th	Champions (2006, 2009, 2023)
Mexico	2nd		6th	Third place (2023)
Netherlands	7th		6th	Fourth place (2013, 2017)
Panama	10th		4th	Pool stage
Puerto Rico	8th		6th	Runners-up (2013, 2017)
South Korea	6th		6th	Runners-up (2009)
United States	5th		6th	Champions (2017)
Venezuela	4th		6th	Fourth place (2009)

Venues

Qualifier 1	Taipei	Tucson	Qualifier 2
Taipei, Taiwan			Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Taipei Dome			Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium
Capacity: 40,000			Capacity: 11,500

Pools composition

Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the latest WBSC World Rankings (September 18, 2024) at the time of the announcement of the qualifiers.[2]

Pool A	Pool B
Chinese Taipei (3) (hosts)	Colombia (11)
Nicaragua (16)	Germany (17)
Spain (23)	China (20)
South Africa (30)	Brazil (24)

The format will consist of two rounds. The first round will be a round-robin, with the teams playing each other once. After the six games from each group, the first-placed team will qualify for the final tournament, while the second and third-placed teams will play in a seventh game for the last spot from each qualifier.[1]

Taipei

The pool will take place in Taipei, Taiwan, on February 21–25, 2025.

Opening round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Chinese Taipei (H)	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	Final tournament
2	Nicaragua	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	Game 7
3	South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
4	Spain	0	0	0	0	0	—	—

First game(s) will be played: February 21, 2025. Source: MLB
(H) Hosts

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
February 21	12:00	South Africa	–	Nicaragua		Taipei Dome			Boxscore
February 21	19:00	Spain	–	Chinese Taipei		Taipei Dome			Boxscore
February 22	12:00	Spain	–	Nicaragua		Taipei Dome			Boxscore
February 22	19:00	Chinese Taipei	–	South Africa		Taipei Dome			Boxscore
February 23	12:00	South Africa	–	Spain		Taipei Dome			Boxscore
February 23	19:00	Nicaragua	–	Chinese Taipei		Taipei Dome			Boxscore

Game 7

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
February 25	19:00	Opening round 3rd place	–	Opening round 2nd place		Taipei Dome

Tucson

The pool will take place in Tucson, Arizona, United States, on March 2–6, 2025.

Opening round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	Final tournament
2	Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	Game 7
3	China	0	0	0	0	0	—	—
4	Germany	0	0	0	0	0	—	—

First game(s) will be played: March 2, 2025. Source: MLB

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
March 2	11:00	China	–	Germany		Veterans Memorial Stadium			Boxscore
March 2	18:00	Brazil	–	Colombia		Veterans Memorial Stadium			Boxscore
March 3	11:00	Brazil	–	Germany		Veterans Memorial Stadium			Boxscore
March 3	18:00	Colombia	–	China		Veterans Memorial Stadium			Boxscore
March 4	11:00	China	–	Brazil		Veterans Memorial Stadium			Boxscore
March 4	18:00	Germany	–	Colombia		Veterans Memorial Stadium			Boxscore

Game 7

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
March 6	18:00	Opening round 3rd place	–	Opening round 2nd place		Veterans Memorial Stadium

References

1. "World Baseball Classic Qualifiers announced". MLB.com. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
2. "WBSC/KONAMI World Rankings". WBSC.org. Retrieved 16 November 2024.

External links

• Official website