Japan pitcher Yu Darvish (11) celebrates with his teammates during an award ceremony after defeating the United States in the championship game at the World Baseball Classic at loanDepot Park on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Miami, Fla.
MATIAS J. OCNER
mocner@miamiherald.com
The 2026 World Baseball Classic has arrived! Twenty countries will compete over the next two weeks for a chance to win the sixth iteration of the international tournament.
Japan has won it three times (2006, 2009, 2023), while the Dominican Republic (2013) and United States (2017) have won the other two times.
The tournament begins on Thursday and ends with the championship on March 17 at Miami’s loanDepot park.
Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of the schedule for the World Baseball Classic.
Pool Play
Of note: Pool A is being played at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium; Pool B at Houston’s Daikin Park; Pool C at Tokyo’s Tokyo Dome; Pool D at Miami’s loanDepot park. Five teams are in each pool and will play each of the other teams in their \pool once. The top two teams from each pool advance to the quarterfinals.
Thursday, March 5
Pool C: Czechia vs. Korea, 5 a.m., FS1
Pool C: Australia vs. Czechia, 10 p.m., FS1
Friday, March 6
Pool C: Japan vs. Chinese Taipei, 5 a.m., FS1
Pool A: Cuba vs. Panama, 11 a.m., FS2
Pool D: Netherlands vs. Venezuela, noon, Tubi
Pool B: Mexico vs. Great Britain, 1 p.m., FS1
Pool A: Puerto Rico vs. Colombia, 6 p.m., FS1
Pool D: Nicaragua vs. Dominican Republic, 7 p.m., FS2
Pool B: United States vs. Brazil, 8 p.m., Fox
Pool C: Chinese Taipei vs. Czechia, 10 p.m., FS2
Saturday, March 7
Pool C: Korea vs. Japan, 5 a.m., FS1
Pool A: Colombia vs. Canada, 11 a.m., FS1
Pool D: Nicaragua vs. Netherlands, noon, Tubi
Pool B: Brazil vs. Italy, 1 p.m., Fox Sports App
Pool A: Panama vs. Puerto Rico, 6 p.m., FS1
Pool D: Israel vs. Venezuela, 7 p.m., FS2
Pool B: Great Britain vs. United States, 8 p.m., Fox
Pool C: Chinese Taipei vs. Korea, 10 p.m., FSU
Sunday, March 8
Pool C: Australia vs. Japan, 6 a.m., FS1
Pool A: Colombia vs. Cuba, noon, FS2
Pool D: Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic, noon, Fox
Pool B: Great Britain vs. Italy, 1 p.m., Tubi
Pool A: Panama vs. Canada, 7 p.m., FS2
Pool B: Brazil vs. Mexico, 8 p.m., FS1
Monday, March 9
Pool C: Korea vs. Australia, 6 a.m., FS1
Pool D: Dominican Republic vs. Israel, noon, FS1
Pool A: Colombia vs. Panama, noon, FS2
Pool B: Brazil vs. Great Britain, 1 p.m., Tubi
Pool A: Cuba vs. Puerto Rico, 7 p.m., FS1
Pool D: Venezuela vs. Nicaragua, 7 p.m., FS2
Pool B: Mexico vs. United States, 8 p.m., Fox
Tuesday, March 10
Pool C: Czechia vs. Japan, 6 a.m., FS1
Pool D: Israel vs. Netherlands, 7 p.m., Fox Sports App
Pool A: Canada vs. Puerto Rico, 7 p.m., Tubi
Pool B: Italy vs. United States, 9 p.m., FS1
Wednesday, March 11
Pool A: Canada vs. Cuba, 3 p.m., FS1
Pool B: Italy vs. Mexico, 7 p.m., Tubi
Pool D: Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela, 8 p.m., FS1
Quarterfinals
Of note: While exact quarterfinal matchup times have not been determined, the matchups will be as follows: Pool A winner vs. Pool B runner-up and Pool A runner-up vs. Pool B winner in Houston on Friday, March 13; Pool C winner vs. Pool D runner-up and Pool C runner-up vs. Pool D winner in Miami on Saturday, March 14.
Friday, March 13
Game 1: 6:30 p.m., FS2 (matchup TBD)
Game 2: 8 p.m., Fox (matchup TBD)
Saturday, March 14
Game 1: 3 p.m., FS1 (matchup TBD)
Game 2: 9 p.m., Fox (matchup TBD)
Semifinals
Of note: The semifinals and the final are all played in Miami.
Sunday, March 15
Teams TBD, 8 p.m., FS1
Monday, March 16
Teams TBD, 8 p.m., FS1
FinalTuesday, March 17
Semifinal winners, 8 p.m., Fox
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Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.