The qualifying round of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, officially called the World Baseball Classic 2025 Qualifiers, is 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 consist of two tournaments with four teams each, and is held in Taipei, Taiwan, and Tucson, United States of America. Two teams of each tournament qualify for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.[1]
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.[2]
| 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 | 6th | Pool stage | |
 Cuba
|
10th | 6th | Runners-up (2006) | |
 Czech Republic
|
15th | 2nd | Pool stage | |
 Dominican Republic
|
11th | 6th | Champions (2013) | |
 Great Britain
|
18th | 2nd | Pool stage | |
 Israel
|
19th | 3rd | Quarterfinals (2017) | |
 Italy
|
14th | 6th | Quarterfinals (2013, 2023) | |
 Japan
|
1st | 6th | Champions (2006, 2009, 2023) | |
 Mexico
|
4th | 6th | Third place (2023) | |
 Netherlands
|
7th | 6th | Fourth place (2013, 2017) | |
 Panama
|
8th | 4th | Pool stage | |
 Puerto Rico
|
9th | 6th | Runners-up (2013, 2017) | |
 South Korea
|
6th | 6th | Runners-up (2009) | |
 United States
|
5th | 6th | Champions (2017) | |
 Venezuela
|
3rd | 6th | Fourth place (2009) | |
 Nicaragua
|
16th | Pool A winner | 2nd | Pool stage |
 Chinese Taipei
|
2nd | Pool A runner-up | 6th | Quarterfinals (2013) |
Players
Venues
| Qualifier 1 | Qualifier 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 Taipei, Taiwan
|
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
| ||
| Taipei Dome | Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 40,000 | 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.[2]
| 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 consists 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 qualifies for the final tournament, while the second and third-placed teams play in a seventh game where the winner also qualifies.[1]
Pool A
Pool A took place at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan, on 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[a] | 1.5 | |
| 3 | Spain
|
4 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 14 | .500[a] | 1.5 | |
| 4 | South Africa
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 20 | .000 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 will take 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
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Final tournament |
| 2 | Brazil
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Second-place playoff |
| 3 | China
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 4 | Germany
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Opening round
| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2, 2025 | 11:00 | China
|
– | Germany
|
Veterans Memorial Stadium | Boxscore | |||
| March 2, 2025 | 18:00 | Brazil
|
– | Colombia
|
Veterans Memorial Stadium | Boxscore | |||
| March 3, 2025 | 11:00 | Brazil
|
– | Germany
|
Veterans Memorial Stadium | Boxscore | |||
| March 3, 2025 | 18:00 | Colombia
|
– | China
|
Veterans Memorial Stadium | Boxscore | |||
| March 4, 2025 | 11:00 | China
|
– | Brazil
|
Veterans Memorial Stadium | Boxscore | |||
| March 4, 2025 | 18:00 | Germany
|
– | Colombia
|
Veterans Memorial Stadium | Boxscore |
Second-place playoff
| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 6, 2025 | 18:00 | Opening round 3rd place | – | Opening round 2nd place | Veterans Memorial Stadium |
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).[3] MLB Network will also broadcast select games.[4]
Like the 2022 qualifiers, participating teams also have broadcast partners locally, as follows:
| Territory | Rights holder(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil |
|
[5] |
| China | [5] | |
| Colombia |
|
[5] |
| Latin America (excluding Brazil) | [5] | |
| Panama | COS Panamá | [5] |
| South Korea | SpoTV | [5] |
| Sub-Saharan Africa |
|
[5] |
| Taiwan | [6][7] |
References
- ^ a b c "World Baseball Classic Qualifiers announced". MLB.com. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ a b "WBSC/KONAMI World Rankings". WBSC.org. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "Everything to know about World Baseball Classic Qualifiers starting Feb. 21". MLB.com. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ^ "MLB Network TV Schedule". MLB.com. Archived from the original on 2025-02-24. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Where to Watch the 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers". MLB.com. Archived from the original on 2025-02-23. Retrieved 2025-02-23.
- ^ "經典賽資格賽懶人包》臺北大巨蛋主場迎戰3外隊力拚晉級 賽程、轉播、名單、票價一次帶你看". Yahoo Sports Taiwan (in Chinese). 2025-02-03. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ^ "2025經典賽資格賽賽程、參賽隊伍、票價、轉播資訊總整理 - 棒球". 運動視界 Sports Vision (in Chinese). 2025-01-25. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
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