The WBC has been concluded, and to say it was a good tournament would be an understatement. The WBC was great and was filled with some absolutely incredible moments from the Dominican Republic team hitting the most home runs in WBC history despite not even making the final to Italy going farther than they ever have, the WBC was unforgettable. Venezuela ultimately came out on top over a USA team that was incredibly disappointing despite making the final. Ultimately Venezuela came out on top despite not being an initial favorite. The WBC has been growing pretty consistently over the past few years and this year was likely the biggest tournament in WBC history with a lot of MLB players actively participating rather than sitting out, like in past tournaments. While the rise in popularity of MLB playing, there are still limitations as oftentimes the MLB teams that the players play for will limit the amount of game time they are allowed in the WBC. Sometimes it’s not even MLB teams that make the decisions but the players themselves, like Tarik Skubal who pulled himself out, but still wanted to show back up for the final, ultimately taking up a valuable roster spot for a pitcher who could have really helped the US down the stretch. One of the other huge storylines was the success of the Italians aka the Americans who chose to represent Italy, as only 3 players on Italy’s roster were actually born in Italy. While Italians would probably label this as coping from the US fans, it doesn’t really matter as even if the WBC was only players born in your country it’s likely that the players on team Italy wouldn’t have even made team USA. However despite this Italy still managed to not only beat the US in the group stage but also they made it all the way to the semi-finals which is an incredible accomplishment from a team not known for its baseball talent. Besides Italy another team that was relatively surprising with the success they had was the overall winners of the tournament, Venezuela. Venezuela, is known for being a country that produces talented baseball players, however they have not been known for having a lot of success as of late, and even though they have one of the top players in the MLB in Ronald Acuna Jr, they weren’t a top 3 favorite coming into the tourney. Venezuela also overcame some of the strongest teams on their way to the title defeating Japan with star Shohei Ohtani, and the US. While there were some teams who definitely exceeded expectations, there were also a good amount of teams who were overall a disappointment.

1. 1. The USA, even though the US ultimately made the final and just barely lost, saying the tournament was a success for the US would be far from the truth. The United States pitching staff was great throughout the tournament, but pitching doesn’t always win games as you do need to score runs. The pitchers for the US definitely won them some games early in the tournament but once it came down to the final couple games the US bats still weren’t producing which ultimately led to the loss of the US in the final.

• Mexico, this team didn’t even make it out of the group stage, an expectation that the Mexican national team consistently has, suffering brutal losses to the United States as well as tournament surprises, Italy Mexico was an overwhelming disappointment.

• Japan,  A team that won the 2023 WBC, came into this year’s tournament with the same goal, and with the same star player leading Japan, Shohei Ohtani the expectation around the world was for Japan to at least make the final, which they didn’t even due, suffering a loss to Venezuela in the knockout rounds, an incredibly disappointing result from what a lot of people thought to be the best team in the competition. 

Final Standings

Pool A: Canada( 3 wins – 1 loss), Puerto Rico( 3 wins – 1 loss), Cuba (2 wins – 2 losses), Colombia( 1 win – 3 losses), Panama( 1 win – 3 losses)

Pool B: Italy( 4 wins – 0 losses), USA ( 3 wins – 1 loss), Mexico (2 wins – 2 losses), Great Britain ( 1 win – 3 losses), Panama( 0 wins – 4 losses)

Pool C: Japan ( 4 wins – 0 losses), Korea ( 2 wins – 2 losses), Australia (2 wins – 2 losses), Chinese Taipei ( 2 win – 2 losses), Czechia ( 0 wins – 4 losses)

Pool D: Dominican Republic ( 4 wins – 0 losses), Venezuela ( 3 wins – 1 loss), Israel (2 wins – 2 losses), Netherlands ( 1 win – 3 losses), Nicaragua ( 0 wins – 4 losses)

BRACKET:

QF’s Korea(0) vs Dominican Republic(10) = Dominican Republic moving on

QF’s United States(5) vs Canada(3) = United States moving on

QF’s Puerto Rico(6) vs Italy(8) = Italy moving on

QF’s Venezuela(8) vs Japan(5) = Venezuela moving on

SF’s United States(2) vs Dominican Republic(1) = USA moving on

SF’s Venezuela(4) vs Italy(2) = Venezuela moving on

Final Venezuela(3) vs United States(2) = Venezuela are champions

Going Forward

The 2026 WBC was a huge success not only for the game of baseball but also for the global spread of the game, it brought countries together to support their local and homegrown stars. It gave countries fans exposure to some new national heroes, and allowed for some unknown baseball players and prospects to be discovered and respected by fans and baseball organizations. Going forward the WBC will likely continue to grow, with more countries gaining talent on their teams, more fans becoming interested in their countries games and new rivalries between countries that can create some incredible atmospheres and moments for future matchups. It’s unlikely we ever see a team as magical as 2026 Italy, but you never know with the continued growth of baseball on a global scale and the increased interest not only in the sport but also in the players, team, and the World Baseball Classic as a whole, if you’re not on the International baseball train yet it’s time to hop on.