# 2026 World Baseball Classic qualification

The qualifying round of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, officially called the World Baseball Classic 2025 Qualifiers, was 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 consisted of two tournaments with four teams each, and is held in Taipei, Taiwan, and Tucson, United States of America. Two teams of each tournament qualified for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

## Qualified teams

Note: World ranking indicates positions in the latest WBSC World Rankings (December 31, 2024) at the time of the announcement of the qualifiers.
| Team | World ranking | Method of qualification | Classic appearance | Previous best position |
| Australia | 12th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Quarterfinals (2023) |
| Canada | 22nd | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Pool stage |
| Cuba | 10th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Runners-up (2006) |
| Czech Republic | 15th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 2nd | Pool stage |
| Dominican Republic | 11th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Champions (2013) |
| Great Britain | 18th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 2nd | Pool stage |
| Israel | 19th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 3rd | Quarterfinals (2017) |
| Italy | 14th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Quarterfinals (2013, 2023) |
| Japan | 1st | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Champions (2006, 2009, 2023) |
| Mexico | 4th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Third place (2023) |
| Netherlands | 7th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Fourth place (2013, 2017) |
| Panama | 8th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 4th | Pool stage |
| Puerto Rico | 9th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Runners-up (2013, 2017) |
| South Korea | 6th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Runners-up (2009) |
| United States | 5th | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Champions (2017) |
| Venezuela | 3rd | 2023 World Baseball Classic pool stage top four | 6th | Fourth place (2009) |
| Nicaragua | 16th | Pool A winner | 2nd | Pool stage |
| Chinese Taipei | 2nd | Pool A second-place playoff winner | 6th | Quarterfinals (2013) |
| Colombia | 13th | Pool B winner | 3rd | Pool stage |
| Brazil | 23rd | Pool B second-place playoff winner | 2nd | Pool stage |

## Venues

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

## Pools composition

Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the latest WBSC World Rankings (December 31, 2024) at the time of the announcement of the qualifiers.
| Pool A | Pool B |
| Chinese Taipei (2) (hosts) | Colombia (13) |
| Nicaragua (16) | Germany (17) |
| Spain (24) | China (20) |
| South Africa (31) | Brazil (23) |
The format consisted of two rounds. The first round is a round-robin, with the teams playing each other once. After the six games from each group, the first-placed team qualified for the final tournament, while the second and third-placed teams play in a seventh game where the winner also qualified.

## Pool A

Pool A took place at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan, from February 21–25, 2025.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Nicaragua | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 1.000 | — | Final tournament |
| 2 | Chinese Taipei (H) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 22 | .500 | 1.5 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Spain | 4 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 14 | .500 | 1.5 | |
| 4 | South Africa | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 20 | .000 | 3 | |
* 1 2 Chinese Taipei defeated Spain in the second-place playoff, 6–3.

### Opening round

| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
| February 21, 2025 | 12:00 | South Africa | 1–2 | Nicaragua | 10 | Taipei Dome | 2:30 | 14,925 | Boxscore |
| February 21, 2025 | 19:00 | Spain | 12–5 | Chinese Taipei | | Taipei Dome | 3:13 | 35,325 | Boxscore |
| February 22, 2025 | 12:00 | Spain | 1–2 | Nicaragua | 10 | Taipei Dome | 2:58 | 15,015 | Boxscore |
| February 22, 2025 | 19:00 | Chinese Taipei | 9–1 | South Africa | | Taipei Dome | 3:05 | 35,868 | Boxscore |
| February 23, 2025 | 12:00 | South Africa | 1–9 | Spain | | Taipei Dome | 2:20 | 15,385 | Boxscore |
| February 23, 2025 | 19:00 | Nicaragua | 6–0 | Chinese Taipei | | Taipei Dome | 3:01 | 35,565 | Boxscore |

### Second-place playoff

| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
| February 25, 2025 | 19:00 | Chinese Taipei | 6–3 | Spain | | Taipei Dome | 2:58 | 35,768 | Boxscore |

## Pool B

Pool B took place at the Kino Sports Complex's Veterans Memorial Stadium in Tucson, Arizona, United States, on March 2–6, 2025.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Colombia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 1.000 | — | Final tournament |
| 2 | Brazil | 4 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 18 | .750 | 0.5 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Germany | 4 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 27 | .250 | 2.5 | |
| 4 | China | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 32 | .000 | 3 | |
* 1 2 Brazil defeated Germany in the second-place playoff, 6–4.

### Opening round

| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
| March 2, 2025 | 11:00 | China | 2–12 | Germany | 7 | Veterans Memorial Stadium | 2:28 | 1,549 | Boxscore |
| March 2, 2025 | 18:00 | Brazil | 0–5 | Colombia | | Veterans Memorial Stadium | 2:23 | 2,332 | Boxscore |
| March 3, 2025 | 11:00 | Brazil | 9–7 | Germany | | Veterans Memorial Stadium | 3:05 | 2,193 | Boxscore |
| March 3, 2025 | 18:00 | Colombia | 8–1 | China | | Veterans Memorial Stadium | 2:39 | 1,259 | Boxscore |
| March 4, 2025 | 11:00 | China | 2–12 | Brazil | 7 | Veterans Memorial Stadium | 2:30 | 3,566 | Boxscore |
| March 4, 2025 | 18:00 | Germany | 0–10 | Colombia | 7 | Veterans Memorial Stadium | 2:07 | 2,137 | Boxscore |

### Second-place playoff

| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
| March 6, 2025 | 18:00 | Germany | 4–6 | Brazil | | Veterans Memorial Stadium | 2:23 | 2,247 | Boxscore |

## Statistical leaders

Batting leaders :
| Statistic | Name | Total/Avg |
| Batting average* | Dilson Herrera | .583 |
| Hits | Po-Hsuan Wang | 8 |
| Runs | Dante Bichette | 5 |
| Runs batted in | 2 tied with | 7 |
| On-base percentage* | Po-Hsuan Wang | .632 |
| Slugging percentage* | Jesus Marriaga | 1.000 |
| OPS* | Jesus Marriaga | 1.538 |
* Minimum 2.7 plate appearances per team game
Pitching leaders :
| Statistic | Name | Total/Avg |
| ERA* | 8 tied with | 0.00 |
| Innings pitched | Yeudy Garcia | 7.0 |
| Strikeouts | Ramón Rosso | 9 |
* Minimum 0.8 innings pitched per team game

## Broadcast

On February 3, alongside the first pool roster reveals, it was announced that the 2025 WBC qualifiers would be shown on the WBC YouTube channel, WBC Facebook page, MLB.tv and WBC website (WorldBaseballClassic.com). MLB Network will also broadcast select games.
Like the 2022 qualifiers, qualifers and already qualified teams also have broadcast partners locally, as follows:
| Territory | Rights holder(s) |
| Brazil | ESPN Brasil Disney+ |
| China | BesTV [zh] Douyin Bilibili Weixin Weibo Kuaishou QQ Tencent Video |
| Colombia | Win Sports Ditu One Baseball Network Disney+ |
| Germany | Sportdigital |
| Latin America (excluding Brazil) | One Baseball Network BeisbolPlay Disney+ |
| Panama | COS Panamá |
| South Korea | SpoTV |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | ESPN Africa |
| Taiwan | EBC ELTA Sports [zh] VL Sports Chunghwa Telecom (MOD & Hami Video) |
| United States | MLB Network Fox Sports 2 Fox Deportes |