World Baseball Basic 2026: Standings, scores, and extra

The 2026 World Baseball Basic is underway.

Over the subsequent two weeks, a few of the greatest baseball gamers on the planet will play for nationwide delight on this 12 months’s installment of the World Baseball Basic. 20 groups from throughout the globe will come collectively in baseball’s model of the World Cup, resulting in a winner-take-all championship recreation slated for Tuesday, March 17.

Right here is every thing it’s essential know for this 12 months’s installment of the World Baseball Basic.

How did groups qualify for the 2026 WBC?

Qualifying for this 12 months’s World Baseball Basic is basically based mostly on the outcomes from the earlier WBC, held forward of the 2023 Main League Baseball season. 16 of the 20 groups within the area for this 12 months’s model completed within the high 4 spots of their respective swimming pools in the course of the 2023 WBC.

As for the opposite 4 groups, they certified for the 2026 WBC throughout a event held in March of 2025. Eight groups entered that qualifying event — Nicaragua, Chinese language Taipei, Spain, South Africa, Colombia, Brazil, Germany, and China — and of these eight, Nicaragua, Chinese language Taipei, Colombia, and Brazil superior to the 2026 WBC.

What groups are within the 2026 WBC?

Listed here are the 20 groups within the 2026 World Baseball Basic area, beginning with the 16 computerized qualifiers, after which the groups that superior by way of the qualification event:

What’s the format of the WBC?

The 20 groups have been divided into 4 swimming pools — Pool A, Pool B, Pool C, and Pool D — and the event begins with every workforce taking part in the opposite groups of their pool as soon as. On this 12 months’s installment of the World Baseball Basic, the 4 swimming pools are hosted by 4 completely different areas: Pool A is taking part in in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Pool B is taking part in in Houston, Texas; Pool C is taking part in on Tokyo, Japan; and Pool D is taking part in in Miami, Florida.

On the conclusion of this opening spherical, the top-two groups in every Pool will advance to the quarterfinals. Ought to there be a tie within the standings following pool play, the head-to-head file is the tiebreaker to advance to the quarterfinals.

Nonetheless, if three or extra groups are tied within the standings, issues get a little bit extra sophisticated. In response to ESPNtiebreaker No. 1 is the “[l]owest quotient of runs allowed divided by the variety of defensive outs recorded in video games between groups which can be tied.” If this doesn’t determine issues, tiebreaker No. 2 is the “[l]owest quotient of earned runs allowed divided by the variety of defensive outs recorded in video games between the groups which can be tied.“

If there’s nonetheless a tie, the third tiebreaker is the “[h]ighest batting common in video games between the tied groups.”

Tiebreaker No. 4? Drawing tons between the tied groups.

Let’s hope there aren’t any ties within the standings subsequent week.

Following the conclusion of pool play, the eight groups that advance to the quarterfinals will face off as follows:

The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals are all single-elimination.

The 4 groups that advance to the semifinals are re-seeded, and the winners advance to the winner-take-all championship recreation.

What are the 4 swimming pools for the 2026 WBC?

Listed here are the 4 swimming pools for the 2026 World Baseball Basic:

Australia 3, Chinese language Taipei 0

South Korea 11, Czechia 4
Australia 5, Czech Republic 1

Japan 13, Chinese language Taipei 0
Cuba 3, Panama 1
Venezuela 6, Netherlands 2
Mexico 8, Nice Britain 2
Puerto Rico 5, Colombia 0
Dominican Republic 12, Nicaragua 3
United States 15, Brazil 5
Chinese language Taipei 14, Czechia 0

Japan 8, South Korea 6
Canada 8, Colombia 2
Netherlands 4, Nicaragua 3
Italy 8, Brazil 0
Panama vs Puerto Rico, 6:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1
Israel vs. Venezuela, 7:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 2
Nice Britain vs. United States, 8:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox
Chinese language Taipei vs. South Korea, 10:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 2

Australia vs. Japan, 6:00 a.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1
Colombia vs. Cuba, 12:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 2
Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic, 12:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox
Nice Britain vs. Italy, 1:00 p.m. Japanese, Pipes
Nicaragua vs. Israel, 7:00 p.m. Japanese, Pipes
Panama vs. Canada, 7:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 2
Brazil vs. Mexico, 8:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1

South Korea vs. Australia, 6:00 a.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1
Dominican Republic vs. Israel, 12:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1
Colombia vs. Panama, 12:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 2
Brazil vs. Nice Britain, 1:00 p.m. Japanese, Pipes
Cuba vs. Puerto Rico, 7:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1
Venezuela vs. Nicaragua, 7:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 2
Mexico vs. United States, 8:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox

Czechia vs. Japan, 6:00 a.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1
Israel vs. Netherlands, 7:00 p.m Japanese, Fox Sports activities App
Canada vs. Purdue, 7:00 p.m. Japanese, Pipes
Italy vs. United States, 9:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1

Canada vs. Cuba, 3:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 2
Italy vs. Mexico, 7:00 p.m. Japanese, Pipes
Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela, 8:00 p.m. Japanese

Friday, March 13 – Quarterfinals

Pool C runner-up vs. Pool D winner, 6:30 p.m Japanese, Fox Sports activities 2
Pool A runner-up vs. Pool B winner, 8:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox

Saturday, March 14 – Quarterfinals

Pool B runner-up vs. Pool A winner, 3:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1
Pool D runner-up vs. Pool C winner, 9:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox

Sunday, March 15 – Semifinals

TBD vs. TBD, 8:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1

Monday, March 16 – Semifinals

TBD vs. TBD, 8:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox Sports activities 1

Tuesday, March 17 – Ultimate

TBD vs. TBD, 8:00 p.m. Japanese, Fox

World Baseball Basic standings

Listed here are the standings for the World Baseball Basic, which can be up to date as video games go last.