As we inch closer and closer to 2026, the World Baseball Classic has just announced the schedule and tournament format. The teams are split into four pools, ranging from Pool A to Pool D. With the first games set to take place on Mar. 6, 2026, let’s look at which teams were pooled together.
Pool A features Puerto Rico, Panama, Cuba, Canada, and one qualifying team. Games in this pool will be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Cuba will look to follow up on its dominant performance last year when it reached the semifinals before being eliminated by the United States to reach the finals.
Pool B contains the United States, Mexico, Italy, Great Britain, and a qualifying team. This group will play their games in Houston, Texas, at Minute Maid Park. This is the first year that the tournament will be featured in Houston. Past U.S. cities that hosted the Classic were San Diego and San Francisco. One of the strongest pools in this upcoming WBC is the United States, which will look to jump in front of the competition right away in order to reach the finals. Mexico and Italy will be two teams to look out for with the young talent that could represent them in 2026.
Pool C holds the reigning champions, Japan, along with Australia, Korea, Czechia, and a qualifying team. Tokyo, Japan, will host this pool, with games at the Tokyo Dome. Japan will add even more talent to their roster in 2026, with Shohei Ohtani headlining their team, but we could potentially see Rintaro Sasaki suiting up with them as well. Australia will add Travis Bazzana to their lineup, where they lost to Cuba in the quarterfinals in 2023. Play is set to begin a day earlier in this pool on March 5.
Moving along, Pool D features Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Israel, and a qualifying team. They will play their games in Miami, Florida, at loanDepot Park. Venezuela and the Dominican Republic look to repeat as favorites in the tournament. Venezuela will add several players to their star-studded lineup, which they lost to the United States in the quarterfinals. After failing to reach a quarterfinal game last season, the Dominican Republic will look to do the same and try to add as much young talent as possible to play alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and others.
For the Quarterfinals, Pool A and Pool B will face each other. The winner of Pool B will play the runner-up of Pool A, where game two will be the runner-up of Pool B playing the winner of Pool A. This will take place from March 13-14 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. The same format will apply for both Pool C and Pool D. Also scheduled for March 13-14, where these games will take place at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida.
Quarterfinals and the Championship game will also be played in Miami, Florida. Quarterfinals are scheduled for March 15-16, with the Championship set for March 17.
The teams that have to re-qualify are Chinese Taipei, China, Colombia, and Nicaragua. Other teams that we could potentially see at Qualifiers would be Germany, Spain, France, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, and New Zealand. More will be announced soon regarding Qualifiers, with games set to take place in Tucson, Arizona, in February 2025. We will find out which four teams will join each pool, with qualifiers quickly approaching.
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WBN World Baseball Classic: https://worldbaseball.com/league/wbc/
Photo Credit: Shohei Ohtani #16 of Japan celebrates on the mound at the World Baseball Classic. (Photo by Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins/Getty Images)
