2026 World Baseball Classic bracket, schedule: Team USA moves on for showdown vs. Dominican Republic

Team USA is moving on in the 2026 World Baseball Classic bracket. The Americans held on for a 5-3 win against Canada on Friday night at Daikin Park in Houston. Team USA’s win sets up the biggest game of the tournament so far: USA vs. the Dominican Republic on Sunday in the semifinals. The Dominican Republic improved to 5-0 in the WBC on Friday night, smashing Korea with a 10-0 rout. Team USA and D.R. are the two biggest favorites to win the WBC title, but only one will reach the title game.

Italy, Puerto Rico, Japan and Venezuela are on the other side of the bracket, and they’ll all play quarterfinal matchups on Saturday. Italy, which went 4-0 and took down Team USA earlier this week, will face Puerto Rico. Venezuela will try to knock out Shohei Ohtani and reigning champion Japan.

Here’s a look at the 2026 World Baseball Classic bracket:

2026 World Baseball Classic bracket

Team USA’s advancement out of pool play was more nerve-wracking than expected, but the Americans are through to the semifinals thanks to Italy’s win over Mexico on Wednesday night. Team USA lost to Italy on Tuesday and had to sweat out Wednesday’s result. A narrow Mexico win would’ve sent the Americans packing.

Team USA and Canada are joined by Italy, Puerto Rico, Japan, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic in the knockout stage. The quarterfinals are being held Friday and Saturday, the semifinals will be Sunday and Monday and the 2026 World Baseball Classic championship game is set for Tuesday. The semis and title game will be held at Marlins Park in Miami.

Team USA finished in second place in Pool B, going 3-1 in group play. The U.S. easily beat Brazil and Great Britain before a close win over Mexico. The Americans then shockingly lost to Italy on Tuesday and set up a scenario where their quarterfinal fate was out of their hands. Italy, though, finished off a perfect round of pool play by beating Mexico to earn first place in Pool B. Italy’s win over Mexico prevented the knockout spots from being determined by the complicated WBC tiebreaker rules.

World Baseball Classic knockout scores, schedule 

All games are available to stream on fubo (Try for free).

Quarterfinals

Friday, March 13
Dominican Republic 10, Korea 0 (7)
United States 5, Canada 3

Saturday, March 14
Italy vs. Puerto Rico, 3 p.m. ET, FS1
Japan vs. Venezuela, 9 p.m. ET, Fox

Semifinals

Sunday, March 15
Dominican Republic vs. United States, 8 p.m. ET, FS1

Monday, March 16
TBD vs. TBD, 8 p.m. ET, FS1

Championship game

Tuesday, March 17
TBD vs. TBD, 8 p.m. ET, FS1

FanDuel considers Team USA to be the favorite to win the WBC (+130 odds). The Dominican Republic is second (+290), ahead of Japan (+420) and Venezuela (+500)

Japan took down the United States in the 2023 title game, with Ohtani famously striking out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out. Will the bracket provide a rematch? Or will the star-studded Dominican lineup or another team make a run at the trophy this year? We’ll find out in the coming days.