NEW YORK/PULLY, Switzerland — The fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic, which serves as WBSC’s Official National Team World Championship, will take place from Mar 9-21, 2023, and be expanded to 20 teams from the previous 16-team format of 2017.
All 16 participants from the 2017 World Baseball Classic have been invited to play in the 2023 tournament. They will be joined by four teams advancing from two qualifying tournaments, scheduled from Sep 16-21 at Armin-Wolf-Arena in Regensburg, Germany, and from Sep 30-Oct 5 at Rod Carew National Stadium in Panama City, Panama.
OPENING ROUND
The first round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic will feature four groups of five teams for round-robin play.
Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, will host Group A from Mar 9-13:
- Chinese Taipei
- Cuba
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Qualifier winner
Group A teams are currently positioned in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings as follows: No. 2 Chinese Taipei, No. 8 Netherlands, No. 9 Cuba and No. 17 Italy.
The Tokyo Dome will be home to Group B from Mar 9 to 13:
- Japan
- Australia
- China
- Korea
- Qualifier winner
Group B features the current world no. 1 Samurai Japan National Baseball Team, winners of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and 2019 WBSC Premier12, along with No. 3 Korea, No. 10 Australia and No. 21 China.
Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ, will host Group C from Mar 11 to 15:
- USA (Defending World Baseball Classic Champions)
- Canada
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Qualifier winner
The highest-ranked team in Group C is No. 4 Mexico, followed by No. 5 USA (Tokyo 2020 silver medalists), No. 11 Colombia and No. 12 Canada.
LoanDepot park in Miami, FL, will host Group D from Mar 11-15:
- Dominican Republic
- Israel
- Puerto Rico
- Venezuela
- Qualifier winner
No. 6 Venezuela is currently the top-ranked team in Group D, followed by Tokyo 2020 bronze medalists No. 7 Dominican Republic, No. 16 Puerto Rico and No. 20 Israel.
QUARTERFINALS
On Mar 16-17, the Tokyo Dome will host the quarterfinal games between the top two finishers from Groups A and B.
Miami will be home to the quarterfinals between the top two teams of Groups C and D, with games played on Mar 17-18.
SEMIFINALS AND FINAL
The Semifinals and Finals will be held from Mar 19-21 and are also scheduled in Miami, making LoanDepot park the first venue to host games in all three rounds of one edition of the World Baseball Classic.