With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training next week, the return of baseball is officially around the corner. But with all due respect to Opening Day, we've got some international business to attend to first: the World Baseball Classic, set to return this spring for the most anticipated tournament in the event's history.
The 2023 edition had everybody buzzing, with Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout deciding an electric final between Japan and the United States. What began as a relative afterthought on the sport's calendar became a must-see event that everybody wanted to be a part of. And now, just about everyone will, as 2026 brings by far the most talent the WBC has ever seen (no matter how hard various insurance companies might try to prove otherwise).
Which countries are in the World Baseball Classic?
There are 20 teams in the field at this year's WBC, 16 of which qualified automatically by virtue of finishing in the top four in their respective pools at the 2023 tournament. The final four spots were determined via two qualifying tournaments consisting of four teams each, with the first- and second-place in teams in each tournament advancing.
Once the field was set, it was time to divide those 20 teams into four pools of five teams each, similar to a World Cup draw. Here are the results:
Pool A (San Juan, PR)
- Puerto Rico
- Cuba
- Canada
- Panama
- Colombia
Pool B (Houston, Tex.)
- United States
- Mexico
- Italy
- Great Britain
- Brazil
Pool C (Tokyo, Japan)
- Japan
- Australia
- South Korea
- Czechia
- Chinese Taipei
Pool D (Miami, Fla.)
- Venezuela
- Dominican Republic
- Netherlands
- Israel
- Nicaragua
Both Italy (Jac Caglianone, Vinnie Pasquantino, Sal Frelick) and Great Britain (Jazz Chisholm Jr., Harry Ford) have big-league caliber talent, but Mexico figures to be the only team that can threaten Team USA for Group B supremacy. If you're looking for a Group of Death, look no further than Pool D, which harbors a pair of legit title contenders in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic plus a couple potential sleepers in the Netherlands (long an international contender thanks to the island of Curacao) and Israel.
Like the World Cup, each team will play eery other member of its pool, round robin-style, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the knockout rounds. From there, it's single elimination until a champion is crowned.
Full 2026 World Baseball Classic schedule
Pool stage
The first official game of the World Baseball Classic will take place at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 4, as Chinese Taipei and Australia open up Pool C play from the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Pool C play will run from March 4-March 10, with play in the other three pools — hosted in Houston, San Juan and Miami, respectively — running from March 6-11.
Knockout stage
From there, eight teams (the top two in each pool) will advance to the knockout round, beginning with the quarterfinals on March 13 and 14. The semifinals will be held on March 15 and 16, with the final taking place in Miami on March 17.
How to watch the 2026 World Baseball Classic
- Dates: Wednesday, March 4-Tuesday, March 17
- TV Channel: FOX Sports
- Streaming: FOX Sports Go,
If you're in the U.S., you can catch each game of the 2026 WBC live on FOX, FS1 and FS2 (as well as FOX Deportes in Spanish). FOX proper will air eight games, including three of Team USA's games in pool play, as well as the final. The rest will be put on cable.
For those looking to stream the tournament, you can do so on the FOX Sports app by entering a cable log-in. If you don't have a cable log-in, worry not: You can also stream FOX, FS1 and FS2 through live-streaming options like Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV, and Fubo offers a free trial for new subscribers.
2026 World Baseball Classic bold predictions
The U.S. gets revenge on Japan — and finally recaptures gold
If you remember one thing from the last WBC, it was the final at-bat: Japan's Shohei Ohtani striking out his then-teammate, Mike Trout, to clinch a thrilling one-run win over Team USA in the championship game.
Ohtani probably won't be allowed to pitch this time around, but Japan will still be plenty formidable with Yoshinobu Yamamoto fronting the rotation and bats like Seiya Suzuki and Munetaka Murakami in the lineup. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, with the D.R. and Venezuela looking more like All-Star teams than national teams and Mexico, Puerto Rico and even Canada boasting plenty of MLB talent. The field has never been deeper than it is in 2026, which is part of what makes this the most anticipated WBC to date.
Ultimately, though, I think the U.S. successfully avenges its 2023 heartbreak and claims the World Baseball Classic crown for just the second time ever (and the first time since 2017). There's just too much firepower between Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Cal Raleigh, Corbin Carroll, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and the rest, and with Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal now anchoring the rotation, America's pitching will finally hold up its end of the bargain.
The Dominican Republic will erase the memory of 2023
The Dominican Republic should also have vengeance on its mind, as a baseball-mad country overflowing with MLB talent somehow failed to even make it out of pool play in 2023.
Good luck finding a weak spot in a lineup that should feature names like Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Julio Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ketel Marte, Manny Machado and Junior Caminero. Of course, talent has never been the problem for the D.R. But while pitching has occasionally been this team's Achilles heel, a rotation with Cristopher Sanchez, Sandy Alcantara, Brayan Bello and others should be more than good enough. The pools are set up such that the U.S. will likely meet Japan in the semifinals, which should clear the Dominicans' path to the championship game.
Venezuela goes home early
Big names abound here, from Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio and Wilyer Abreu in the outfield to Maikel Garcia and Eugenio Suarez in the infield and Ranger Suarez and Pablo Lopez on the mound. But if I had to pick a world power to underachieve in this year's tournament, it would still be Venezuela.
It's partly not their fault, as issues obtaining insurance policies could keep key players like Jose Altuve and Miguel Rojas from participating. But even beyond that, I think this roster is a bit more rickety than first meets the eye. Suarez and Lopez are a heck of a top two, but the pitching falls off a cliff after that, and it remains to be seen which version of Lopez we'll get after he battled through an injury-plagued 2025 season in Minnesota. It's possible that Venezuela hits so much that it doesn't matter, but guys like Suarez and Salvador Perez are getting a little long in the tooth at this point, and the margin for error is slim.
Aaron Judge wins tournament MVP honors
Maybe I'm overreacting to that homer off the foul pole in the ALDS. Maybe I'm just excited to finally, at long last, see one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time play for the Stars and Stripes. But as the U.S. assembles by far its most talented roster ever for this event, I can't help but feel like Judge is ready, at long last, to put to bed the clutch narratives that have dogged him for years.
It's not like Judge won't have plenty of protection behind him and guys getting on base in front of him. The pitches to hit will be there, and last postseason he showed the ability to not change his approach to try and do too much. If the talent around him can convince him to keep playing within himself, the sky's the limit here, and Judge is as good a pick for MVP as any if Team USA really does take home the title.