New York /
The excitement for a new edition of the World Baseball Classic begins to grow, even more so when the Major League Baseball (MLB) announced the venues and dates in which the qualifying tournament which will deliver the last four tickets to the international ball festival in 2026.
The four groups that will compete in the next World Classic already have four of the five participants from each sector defined. The qualifier will serve to meet the last 4 participants who will be in the stellar tournament in March 2026.
When is the World Classic qualifier?
The first stage of the qualifier will be held from February 21 to 25, 2025 at the Taipei Dome in Taiwan, a group that includes the host Chinese Taipei and Nicaragua.
Nicaragua went winless in its first World Baseball Classic tournament, which it qualified for after defeating Brazil at the National Stadium in Panama a year earlier. The team will need to find some more offense this time around: It scored just one run in its four World Classic games.
The second key of the classification will be held from March 2 to 6 in Tucson, a varied group that will be led by Colombia and Brazil, both participants from previous editions.
Colombia began the previous World Classic by defeating semifinalist Mexico 5-4 in 10 innings. Unfortunately for their cause, they lost their next three games, including a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the United States that saw them finish last in the group stage.
Qualifier participants in the World Classic
Taiwan: February 21-25, 2025
- China Taipei
- Spain
- Nicaragua
- South Africa
Tucson: March 2-6, 2025
- Germany
- Brazil
- China
- Colombia
