NEW YORK (AP) — Brazil will join the United States, Mexico, Italy and Britain in Group B of the first round of next year’s World Baseball Classic at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.
Major League Baseball and the players’ association on Wednesday allocated the four qualifiers for the 20-nation tournament, which runs from March 5-17.
Taiwan was added to Group C at the Tokyo Dome, where it will meet defending champion Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Czech Republic.
Colombia will be in Group A with Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama and Canada at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
Nicaragua will join Group D with the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the Netherlands and Israel at Miami’s loan Depot park.
The Tokyo group will run from March 5-10, with the others from March 6-11.
The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals on March 13 and 14, with teams from Groups A and B playing in Houston and nations emerging from Groups C and D meeting in Miami. The semifinals will be March 15 and 16 at Miami, which will be the site of the final on March 17.
