The Cuban government is reviewing a proposal from the Federacion Cubana de Beisbol to include Cuban-Americans on the island nation’s roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic according to a report from Cuban Baseball Digest.
Such a proposal would require approval from the country’s government, though it would mirror the country’s efforts in other sports to include players of Cuban descent who were born elsewhere.
Sources: There's a strong possibility that Cuba will call on Cuban-Americans for the World Baseball Classic. According to my sources, this measure is still under review and would require the country's approval. Several Cuban sports, such as soccer, have already called up players… pic.twitter.com/Aq7sRPFOZz
— Cuban Baseball Digest (@CBaseballDigest) August 25, 2025
In addition, the FCB had previously announced that players from outside Cuba would have to be naturalized as Cuban citizens to represent the country at the 2026 WBC, though it now acknowledges that citizenship is not required to be eligible to play in the event. Cuba has been assigned to Pool A for the 2026 WBC, along with the Puerto Rico, Panama, Canada, and Colombia, which will be played at Estadio Hiram Bithorn in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The proposal to have players of Cuban descent on the 2026 WBC roster comes as relations between the island nation and the United States have chilled following the inauguration of Donald Trump for a second term as President of the United States this past January.
In May, a report from Swing Completo indicated that new regulations promulgated by the U.S. Treasury Department‘s Office of Foreign Assets Control could prevent players of Cuban origin who have taken up residence elsewhere from playing for Cuba in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, requiring them to declare that they have no intention of returning to Cuba.
Such players could be permitted by the United States government to represent Cuba in the WBC without potentially losing their legal status in the U.S., though the federal government suspended via presidential proclamation the issuance of multiple classes of visas to citizens of Cuba and Venezuela, as well as five other nations, on June 9, 2025. Notably, “participants in certain major sporting events” from the seven countries affected by the proclamation are exempted, and could potentially be issued visas to enter the U.S.
Because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, players for Cuba and Venezuela, which has been assigned to Pool D in Miami for the 2026 WBC, will need valid visas to enter the U.S. and play in the event.
The Federacion Cubana de Beisbol had, for years, prohibited players who walked away from the Cuba national team while playing abroad or who had defected from the island nation from further representing Cuba in international events. During that time, the Cuban national team found a lot of success internationally,winning Olympic gold three times, finishing second in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, and being ranked No. 1 in the World Baseball Rankings compiled by the World Baseball Softball Confederation as recently as December 2012.
Allowing players of Cuban descent who live elsewhere to play in the WBC would open up a vast pool of potential players for Cuba, which reached the semifinals in 2023 but lost 14-2 to the United States including players in Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, among others.
Players are eligible to represent a country in the World Baseball Classic if the player is a citizen or legal resident of the country he represents, if the player was born in the country, the player has a parent who is a citizen of the country he represents, or if one of the player’s parents was born in the nation or territory he wishes to represent.
Photo: Miguel Romero #45 of Team Cuba pitches in the third inning against Team USA during the World Baseball Classic Semifinals at loanDepot park on March 19, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
