Everything is ready for the sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic Upload the curtain in the different headquarters, including Miami. The wait for the inaugural date is all that is brought between fans and the prestigious nations tournament, but the major league office left the table completely served, now, with the addition to their respective groups of the countries that achieved the last four tickets for the appointment.
In 2023, the participating teams expanded to 20 for the first time in the young history of the contest. The 16 sets that ended among the first four places of their respective first -round groups in the previous edition were directly classified for the competition of 2026 and the four nations that obtained their tickets in the qualifiers held several weeks ago in Taiwán and Arizona (Brazil, China Taipéi, Colombia and Nicaragua) will accompany them.
Group a
The first group will play its challenges at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, in Puerto Rico, which will return as the headquarters after serving as a stage in the first round of the inaugural tournament in 2006, in 2009 and 2013. The games on the Puerto Rican island will take place from Friday, March 6 until Wednesday 11 of the same month.
Puerto Rico will fight the key against Canada, Colombia, Cuba and Panama.
Group b
This group will have as headquarters the recently renowned Daikin Park in the city of Houston, Texas. They will play from Friday 6 to Wednesday, March 11. The Astros house will house the World Classic for the first time.
Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and the United States will see faces in Texan territory.
Group c
The well -known Tokyo dome will return for the sixth edition of the event, after having served as headquarters in each of the previous appointments. It will be played from Thursday 5 to Tuesday, March 10.
The defenders of Japan depart as the favorites in a key that also includes Australia, China Taipéi, Czech Republic and South Korea.
Group d
This one will be played at the Landepot Park in Miami. The enclosure became the first to house the three rounds of the tournament in the same edition in 2023 and will do it again at the next appointment, including the final challenge. The duels of the initial phase will be played from Friday 6 to Wednesday, March 11.
Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Israel, Netherlands and Nicaragua will see faces in the south of Florida.
Format
As in the previous edition, the two teams that finish at the top of their groups will get the ticket to the quarterfinals, which will again be direct elimination.
The rooms will be played in Houston and Miami on Friday the 13th and Saturday, March 14. Daikin Park will receive the classified teams of groups A and B, while the Landepot Park will do the same with the winners of the keys C and D.
The championship round in Miami will begin on Sunday, March 15 with the first of two semifinal duels, while the second will be played on Monday 16. The game for the title will take place on Tuesday 17.
Tickets
Complete information on how to acquire tickets for the event will be announced later.
