The 2026 World Baseball Classic is underway.
Over the next two weeks, some of the best baseball players in the world will play for national pride in this year’s installment of the World Baseball Classic. 20 teams from across the globe will come together in baseball’s version of the World Cup, leading to a winner-take-all championship game slated for Tuesday, March 17.
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Here is everything you need to know for this year’s installment of the World Baseball Classic.
How did teams qualify for the 2026 WBC?
Qualifying for this year’s World Baseball Classic is largely based on the results from the previous WBC, held ahead of the 2023 Major League Baseball season. 16 of the 20 teams in the field for this year’s version finished in the top four spots in their respective pools during the 2023 WBC.
As for the other four teams, they qualified for the 2026 WBC during a tournament held in March of 2025. Eight teams entered that qualifying tournament — Nicaragua, Chinese Taipei, Spain, South Africa, Colombia, Brazil, Germany, and China — and of those eight, Nicaragua, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, and Brazil advanced to the 2026 WBC.
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What teams are in the 2026 WBC?
Here are the 20 teams in the 2026 World Baseball Classic field, starting with the 16 automatic qualifiers, and then the teams that advanced through the qualification tournament:
What is the format of the WBC?
The 20 teams have been divided into four pools — Pool A, Pool B, Pool C, and Pool D — and the tournament begins with each team playing the other teams in their pool once. In this year’s installment of the World Baseball Classic, the four pools are hosted by four different areas: Pool A is playing in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Pool B is playing in Houston, Texas; Pool C is playing on Tokyo, Japan; and Pool D is playing in Miami, Florida.
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At the conclusion of this opening round, the top-two teams in each Pool will advance to the quarterfinals. Should there be a tie in the standings following pool play, the head-to-head record is the tiebreaker to advance to the quarterfinals.
However, if three or more teams are tied in the standings, things get a little more complicated. According to ESPN, tiebreaker No. 1 is the “[l]owest quotient of runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in games between teams that are tied.” If this does not decide matters, tiebreaker No. 2 is the “[l]owest quotient of earned runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in games between the teams that are tied.“
If there is still a tie, the third tiebreaker is the “[h]ighest batting average in games between the tied teams.”
Tiebreaker No. 4? Drawing lots between the tied teams.
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Let’s hope there are no ties in the standings next week.
Following the conclusion of pool play, the eight teams that advance to the quarterfinals will face off as follows:
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Winner Pool A vs. runner-up Pool B
-
Winner Pool B vs. runner-up Pool A
-
Winner Pool C vs. runner-up Pool D
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Winner Pool D vs. runner-up Pool C
The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals are all single-elimination.
The four teams that advance to the semifinals are re-seeded, and the winners advance to the winner-take-all championship game.
What are the four pools for the 2026 WBC?
Here are the four pools for the 2026 World Baseball Classic:
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D
WBC schedule and results
Wednesday, March 4
Australia 3, Chinese Taipei 0
Thursday, March 5
South Korea 11, Czechia 4
Czechia vs. Australia, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
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Friday, March 6
Japan vs. Chinese Taipei, 5:00 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Cuba vs. Panama, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Netherlands vs. Venezuela, 12:00 p.m. Eastern, Tubi
Mexico vs. Great Britain, 1:00 p.m Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Puerto Rico vs. Colombia, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Nicaragua vs. Dominican Republic, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
United States vs. Brazil, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox
Chinese Taipei vs. Czechia, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Saturday, March 7
South Korea vs. Japan, 5:00 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Colombia vs. Canada, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Nicaragua vs. Netherlands, 12:00 p.m. Eastern, Tubi
Brazil vs. Italy, 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports App
Panama vs Puerto Rico, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Israel vs. Venezuela, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Great Britain vs. United States, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox
Chinese Taipei vs. South Korea, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
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Sunday, March 8
Australia vs. Japan, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Colombia vs. Cuba, 12:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic, 12:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox
Great Britain vs. Italy, 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Tubi
Nicaragua vs. Israel, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Tubi
Panama vs. Canada, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Brazil vs. Mexico, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Monday, March 9
South Korea vs. Australia, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Dominican Republic vs. Israel, 12:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Colombia vs. Panama, 12:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Brazil vs. Great Britain, 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Tubi
Cuba vs. Puerto Rico, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Venezuela vs. Nicaragua, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Mexico vs. United States, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox
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Tuesday, March 10
Czechia vs. Japan, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Israel vs. Netherlands, 7:00 p.m Eastern, Fox Sports App
Canada vs. Purdue, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Tubi
Italy vs. United States, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Wednesday, March 11
Canada vs. Cuba, 3:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Italy vs. Mexico, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Tubi
Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela, 8:00 p.m. Eastern
Friday, March 13 – Quarterfinals
Pool C runner-up vs. Pool D winner, 6:30 p.m Eastern, Fox Sports 2
Pool A runner-up vs. Pool B winner, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox
Saturday, March 14 – Quarterfinals
Pool B runner-up vs. Pool A winner, 3:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Pool D runner-up vs. Pool C winner, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox
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Sunday, March 15 – Semifinals
TBD vs. TBD, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Monday, March 16 – Semifinals
TBD vs. TBD, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Tuesday, March 17 – Final
TBD vs. TBD, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Fox
World Baseball Classic standings
Here are the standings for the World Baseball Classic, which will be updated as games go final.
Pool A – San Juan
|
Team |
Wins |
Losses |
Winning Percentage |
|
Canada |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Colombia |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Cuba |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Panama |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Puerto Rico |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
Pool B – Houston
|
Team |
Wins |
Losses |
Winning Percentage |
|
Brazil |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Great Britain |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Italy |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Mexico |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
United States |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
Pool C – Tokyo
|
Team |
Wins |
Losses |
Winning Percentage |
|
Australia |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
|
South Korea |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
|
Japan |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Chinese Taipei |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
|
Czechia |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
Pool D – Miami
|
Team |
Wins |
Losses |
Winning Percentage |
|
Dominican Republic |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Israel |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Netherlands |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Nicaragua |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Venezuela |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
