Venezuela has competed in every edition of the World Baseball Classic since 2006, with its best result to date being a semifinal appearance in 2009. It won its first major international title in at the 1941 Amateur World Series, defeating a heavily-favored Cuba, and won two more world championships in the 1940s. It has also historically dominated baseball at the Bolivarian Games. However, Venezuela has never qualified for the Summer Olympics.
Venezuela competed in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, playing its opening games in Pool C, in Toronto, Ontario. The Venezuelans secured advancement out of Pool C with a pair of resounding wins over Italy. Along the way, Venezuela also lost a 15–6 slugfest against the United States, but won twice against the same team.[7]
In the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Venezuela was eliminated by Puerto Rico, who went on to eliminate Italy, the United States and two-time defending champion Japan. Their placing as the third team in Pool C after defeating newcomers Spain was sufficient to secure direct qualification to the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The following is a list of professionalbaseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.[9]
The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents.
The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport, then the player may be made eligible by WBCI upon petition by the player or team.
The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.
The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents.
The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.[10]
