World Baseball Classic: 2026 start date, schedule, how to watch, teams, host sites

The sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic will take place in 2026.

Reigning champions Japan will look to defend their title, having defeated the United States in the final in 2023.

Continue reading below for all you need to know about the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

World Baseball Classic 2026 start date

The 2026 World Baseball Classic will begin on Thursday, March 5, 2026.

 World Baseball Classic 2026 schedule

March 5-11, 2026: Opening round

March 13-14, 2026: Quarterfinals

March 15-16, 2026: Semifinals

March 17, 2026: Championship

How to watch the World Baseball Classic, TV channel and streaming

It is not yet known which network will broadcast the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

The 2023 edition was broadcast on FOX in the United States, with games shown on FOX, FS1, FS2, and FOX Deportes.

The 2023 WBC was one of the most-watched baseball events of all time, with nearly 100 million viewers across 163 territories throughout the tournament. More than 55 million people watched the final out of the 2023 championship, when Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout.

World Baseball Classic 2026 teams

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
Puerto Rico	United States	Japan	Venezuela
Cuba	Mexico	Australia	Dominican Republic
Canada	Italy	South Korea	Netherlands
Panama	Great Britain	Czechia	Israel
Qualifier TBD	Qualifier TBD	Qualifier TBD	Qualifier TBD

World Baseball Classic 2026 host sites

The United States, Puerto Rico and Japan will host the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

See below for where each Pool will play their opening games, as well as the cities and stadiums that will host the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game.

Round	Host City	Stadium
Pool A opening round	San Juan, Puerto Rico	Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Pool B opening round	Houston, Texas	Minute Maid Park
Pool C opening round	Tokyo, Japan	Tokyo Dome
Pool D opening round	Miami, Florida	loanDepot park
Pool A vs. B Quarterfinals	Houston, Texas	Minute Maid Park
Pool C vs. D Quarterfinals	Miami, Florida	loanDepot park
Semifinals	Miami, Florida	loanDepot park
Championship	Miami, Florida	loanDepot park