Chinese Taipei, Japan and the United States will host the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic, from March 9 to 21, 2023, with the participation of 20 teams, the organizers announced.
New York, July 7 (PL) - Chinese Taipei, Japan and the United States will host the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic, from March 9 to 21, 2023, with the participation of 20 teams, the organizers announced.
Taichung Intercontinental Stadium in Taipei, China, the Tokyo Dome in Japan, Chase Field in Phoenix and loanDepot Park in Florida, both in the United States, will be the host stadiums for the tournament, which will feature two dozen teams for the first time.
The 16 teams that participated in the previous version held in 2017 will play in 2023 as guests, as well as the four teams that will pass the qualifying stage in 2022, to be held at the Armin-Wolf-Arena in Regensburg, Germany, from September 16 to 21, and at the Rod Carew National Stadium in Panama City, from September 30 to October 5.
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) will feature round-robin groups of five teams in the first round.
The top two teams from each of the brackets will advance to the quarterfinals, and the first- and second-place finishers in the two zones of the second round will advance to the semifinals.
From March 9 to 13, Taichung will host the A section, comprised of teams from China Taipei, Cuba, Italy, the Netherlands and a winner of the 2022 World Baseball Classic qualifiers.
The Tokyo Dome will host the first round games of Zone B, consisting of Japan, Korea, China, Australia and a winner of the 2022 qualifying stage, plus a pool from the quarterfinals.
China's Taipei will be the other venue for the second round, from March 15-16, for the top two teams from Group B along with the two A teams.
Chase Field will host the Pool C matches, from March 11-15, which will include defending champion USA and Canada, Mexico, Colombia and a winner of the qualifying stage.
Miami's LoanDepot Park will become the first stadium in the history of the tournament to host matches in all three rounds of a World Classic in the same year.
Group D of the first round, which includes 2017 finalist Puerto Rico and Venezuela, Israel, the Dominican Republic and a winner of the 2022 qualifying stage, from March 11-15.
The quarterfinals of the two U.S. zones, to be played by the teams that advanced from sections C and D, will take place from March 17-18, while the semifinals and finals will be played from March 19-21.
The World Baseball and Softball Confederation approved the event as the official universal championship of national teams in this sport.
