Global events continue to dominate the sports stage in 2026. With the curtains drawn on the Olympics and the World Cup waiting in the wings, the World Baseball Classic has the spotlight to itself. The United States (-105 on FanDuel and BetMGM, -110 on DraftKings) is the tournament favorite, but given the condensed format, any team that gets hot at the right time can shock the field.

Running from March 4-17, the WBC favors a hot streak. With MLB players still in preseason form, whichever team’s hitters warm up quickest will have a sizeable edge.

Team USA enters with a massive roster advantage, featuring four of the top five MVP finishers last season (Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr., Tarik Skubal), the home run leaders from both the AL and NL (Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber) and both leagues’ CY Young winners (Skubal and Paul Skenes). The team features 21 former All-Stars, and adds Bryce Harper for the first time after he missed 2023’s tournament with injury. It’s no surprise they’re the favorites, and according to BetMGM, represent nearly 39 percent of the total handle.

But Japan (+330 on DraftKings, +350 on BetMGM, +380 on FanDuel) is the defending champ, beating the U.S. in a one-run thriller in the last WBC. They feature the mighty Shohei Ohtani, and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto anchors a pitching staff filled out by up-and-coming talent. Hiroto Takahashi will certainly be a hot name in the coming years.

Ohtani is exclusively hitting this tournament, and Samurai Japan is not the behemoth that went undefeated in ‘23 with a plus-30 run differential in pool play, but Japan is still the only multi-time winner of the WBC. With power at the plate in addition to Ohtani (Teruaki Satō hit 40 bombs in the NPB last season) and a deep stable of arms, including the reigning Sawamura Award (Japan’s version of the Cy Young) winner Hiromi Itoh and a few MLB pitchers slated to appear in the later rounds should Japan advance. Given its history of international dominance and top-line talent, Japan is the clearest challenger to Team USA.

The next-highest chunk of the betting handle is on the Dominican Republic, however. While Japan accounts for just 15 percent of the money in play, the DR (+425 on BetMGM, +450 on DraftKings, +460 on FanDuel) represents 24 percent of the WBC handle (amount of money bet). Any team that features Juan Soto, Fernando Tatís Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Manny Machado can certainly contend for a title, but 2026’s roster is arguably the Dominican Republic’s best in WBC history.

Geraldo Perdomo’s power breakout in 2025 and Cristopher Sánchez’s emergence as a top-level MLB starter have the DR in legitimate title contention, and that’s before you get to names like Sandy Alcántara and Julio Rodríguez. Given that the Dominicans are sharks in a neighborhood pond (Israel, Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela are their Pool D opponents), it’s not hard to see why so much money is riding there.

Venezuela is alone in the middle tier at +850 on FanDuel and +900 on BetMGM and DraftKings. While the Venezuelans feature the best infield in the tournament, their pitching staff is a major weakness. Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio and Wilyer Abreu are a fearsome trio, and having Eugenio Suárez, Maikel Garcia, Gleyber Torres and Luis Arráez is a luxury no other team enjoys. But even with captain Salvador Perez behind the plate, the rotation is a massive question mark. The only bona fide MLB success story is Ranger Suárez, although the bullpen features a litany of dependable names.

There’s a massive odds fall-off to the next rung of teams, with Puerto Rico and Mexico each hovering around +2000 and Canada either at +5000 (50-to-1) or +6000. Puerto Rico is missing Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa due to insurance restrictions, considerably diminishing their firepower, but have solid pitching and the advantage of playing at home in their group stage.

Mexico had its best finish ever at the last WBC (third), and returns much of the same roster. The Mexicans are led by Randy Arozarena, a WBC legend for his 2023 performance, and Jonathan Aranda and Jarren Duran come in more polished than they were last tournament.

The Canadians are a popular dark-horse bet in certain circles since they feature the most major-leaguers in team history and don’t face the U.S. or Mexico in the group stage for the first time. Freddie Freeman is out, so Team Canada will be anchored by the Naylor brothers (Josh and Bo) at first base and catcher. There’s also slugger Tyler O’Neill and prospect Owen Caissie in the outfield, and a handful of pitchers, including Jameson Taillon and an aged James Paxton, who are capable of a winning start. They’re still overmatched in terms of star power, but 2026 is Canada’s best shot yet at getting out of the group stage and delivering a stunner in the late rounds.

Every other country has 80-1 or longer odds, and none feature the professional-grade talent to keep pace with the top teams in the field. It’s a safe bet that one of the pool favorites (USA, Japan, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic) will take the tournament, but second-tier contenders (Mexico, Venezuela and rising Canada) have enough firepower to play spoiler.