# 2026 World Baseball Classic

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is an upcoming international professional baseball tournament, planned to be the sixth iteration of the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The 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 final round will be played in Miami.
Japan are the defending champions after they defeated the United States in the 2023 championship game. China failed to qualify for the first time in a major tournament after being eliminated in Pool B from the qualifiers, losing all three matches as a result.

## Teams
### Qualification

16 teams qualified for the 2026 tournament by being in the top four of their pool in the 2023 tournament. Four other participants will be determined through the qualifying tournament.
In January 2024, it was reported that WBCI officials were evaluating two stadiums in Colombia, Estadio Édgar Rentería in Barranquilla and Estadio Once de Noviembre in Cartagena, as potential hosts for the 2026 qualifiers. If selected, it would have been the first time that Colombia hosted a World Baseball Classic-affiliated competition, and their first major international tournament since the 1970 Amateur World Series.
On September 24, 2024, Francys Romero reported that the qualifiers for the 2026 tournament would include 8 teams, downsizing from the 12 that participated in the 2023 qualifiers. Per Romero, the first pool will take place in Taipei from February 19-26, 2025, to include Chinese Taipei, Spain, Nicaragua, and South Africa; the second pool will take place in Tucson, Arizona from February 28 to March 7, 2025, to include Colombia, China, Brazil, Germany. The German Baseball and Softball Federation confirmed the dates of the Tucson pool on October 26. On November 12, 2024, WBCI officially announced the teams, format and schedule of the qualifiers, though with slightly different dates; the Taipei pool will run from February 21–25, and the Tucson pool from March 2-6.
$^1$ Ranking as of December 31st, 2024

## Venues

The main tournament will be held in four stadiums.
| Pool A | Pool A | Pool B & Quarterfinals | Pool B & Quarterfinals | Pool C | Pool C | Pool D, Quarterfinals, Semis and Championship | Pool D, Quarterfinals, Semis and Championship |
| San Juan, Puerto Rico | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Houston, United States | Houston, United States | Tokyo, Japan | Tokyo, Japan | Miami, United States | Miami, United States |
| Hiram Bithorn Stadium | Hiram Bithorn Stadium | Daikin Park | Daikin Park | Tokyo Dome | Tokyo Dome | LoanDepot Park | LoanDepot Park |
| Capacity: 18,264 | Capacity: 18,264 | Capacity: 41,168 | Capacity: 41,168 | Capacity: 45,600 | Capacity: 45,600 | Capacity: 36,742 | Capacity: 36,742 |
| San Juan | San Juan | San Juan | HoustonMiami | HoustonMiami | HoustonMiami | HoustonMiami | HoustonMiami |
| HoustonMiami |||

## Draw

The pools and schedule were announced on August 21, 2024.
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
| San Juan | Houston | Tokyo | Miami |
| Puerto Rico | United States | Japan | Venezuela |
| Cuba | Mexico | Australia | Dominican Republic |
| Canada | Italy | South Korea | Netherlands |
| Panama | Great Britain | Czech Republic | Israel |
| TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |