Havana, August 17 (RHC) – The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced today that the 2027 Premier12 will bring together 16 teams for the first time, will have four phases, and will award two Olympic berths for Los Angeles 2028.
The WBSC’s premier baseball tournament will thus expand its competitive landscape, with a route that will begin in November 2027 and will finish at the Tokyo Dome, the venue reserved for the Super Round and the medal games.
The 16 teams will be divided into four groups of four during the initial round, from which the top two teams from each group will advance to a second stage of two groups, before the four remaining teams compete in the decisive stretch in the Japanese capital.
Taipei will open one of the tournament’s stages by hosting a first-round group at the Taipei Dome from November 8-12, and also one of the two second-round groups, scheduled for November 13-15.
The competition will then take a two-day break before moving to Tokyo, where the four qualified teams will play a round-robin tournament from November 18-20, with the medals up for grabs on Sunday, November 21, the date set to crown the fourth Premier12 champion.
Japan, Chinese Taipei, the United States, South Korea, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Netherlands, Cuba, Australia, and the Dominican Republic have already secured their spots by being among the top 12 teams in the men’s world rankings at the close of 2025.
The four remaining spots will be decided in qualifiers in Barcelona, ​​from October 9-11, featuring Colombia, Italy, Germany, and Spain, and in Zhongshan, China, from November 26-28, featuring Nicaragua, the Czech Republic, China, and Great Britain.
The tournament will also shape part of the Olympic map, as the highest-ranked Asian team and the best representative from Europe or Oceania will earn berths to the Los Angeles 2028 baseball tournament, where the United States, as host, along with Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, have already qualified.
“This is an important milestone for the Premier12 and for our sport,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari, emphasizing that the expansion reflects the growing depth and global reach of baseball.
