National team appearances in the World Baseball Classic
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The countries which have participated in the WBC and their highest standing in the tournament.
This article lists the performances of each of the 23 national teams which have made at least one appearance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The 2006 and 2009 tournaments, each had the same 16-team field, chosen by invitation. Beginning with the 2013 tournament, the four last-place teams from the previous tournament's first round each contested a qualifying round against three additional teams. The outcome of this process has been that 14 of the original 16 teams have continued to appear in every tournament. In 2013, Canada and Chinese Taipei re-qualified, while Panama and South Africa were respectively replaced by Brazil and Spain. In 2017, Australia and Mexico re-qualified while Brazil and Spain were respectively replaced by Colombia and Israel.
The three teams to have won the tournament are Japan (2006, 2009, 2023), the Dominican Republic (2013), and the United States (2017). Other teams to have reached the championship game are Cuba (2006), South Korea (2009), and Puerto Rico (2013, 2017). Other teams to have reached the semifinals are Venezuela (2009), the Netherlands (2013, 2017), and Mexico (2023). Other teams to have reached the quarterfinals (previously the second round) are Chinese Taipei (2013), Italy (2013, 2023), Israel (2017), and Australia (2023). Japan is the current champion, defeating the United States at the 2023 WBC Final.
Performance of confederations
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) currently divides all countries into five confederations based on their region: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.[1] Currently, the two best confederations in international baseball are Americas and Asia, as both confederations add up to 18 of the 20 top four finishes (three titles for Asia and two titles for the Americas). While the appearances of the Americas region expands throughout, all appearances for Asia in the World Baseball Classic were by countries in East Asia in particular. Europe holds the other 2 of the 16 top four finishes, both coming from the Netherlands with the help of the Dutch Caribbean.[2]Italy's and Israel's top eight appearances in 2013 and 2017 respectively have led the region's growth in baseball in addition to the Netherlands' two top four finishes.[3][4] As for Africa and Oceania, both regions lack a baseball scene in general, although South Africa and Australia are indisputably the best two countries in baseball in their respective regions due to their strong leagues.[5][6] In addition, both countries make up all of the World Baseball Classic appearances for their respective regions, including a quarterfinals finish by Australia in 2023.
As decorated as the Americas region is, only six countries in the region have ever made the top four: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States, and Venezuela. The Dominican Republic and United States are the only countries to earn first place, in 2013 and 2017 respectively. In addition to the aforementioned champions, Cuba and Puerto Rico are the only other countries to have made the top four more than once. As for Asia, the countries in East Asia dominate the baseball scene in that region, as Japan and South Korea are the only two countries in that region to appear more than once in the top four. On top of that, Japan is the only country in the world to appear in the top four in all iterations of the World Baseball Classic, with three first-place finishes earned. As such, all bids so far have been granted to those two regions.
After the conclusion of each WBC championship game, players from the losing team receive silver medals, followed by the winners receiving gold medals. The third-place team receives bronze medals at a separate date.[citation needed] The WBC does not hold a third-place playoff, so the ranking of the third- and fourth-placed teams is determined by the WBSC.
The 2009 tournament is the only World Baseball Classic in which every team had appeared in at least one of the previous tournament. Prior to all 16 teams that participated in the 2006 tournament were invited to the tournament that year. The total number of teams that have participated in the World Baseball Classic until the 2023 edition is 23.
R1 – Round 1 (2006–2017: first round, 2023–present: pool stage)
– Relegated to qualification tournament
Q – Qualified
• – Did not qualify
× – Did not enter
A total of 23 nations have competed in the WBC proper, with 14 appearing in all five editions. Japan has been the most successful, as the only nation with multiple WBC titles (2006, 2009, 2023), the nation with the most wins in WBC play (30), and as the only nation to reach the championship round in all five WBCs. Japan owns the best overall winning percentage in WBC games at .789 (30–8 record), bolstered by its 7–0 mark en route to the 2023 title.
Along with Japan, three other nations have advanced to at least the second round in all five WBCs: Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States. The US posted a 10–10 overall record through the first three WBCs, with only one appearance in the semifinals. The Americans broke through in 2017, going 6–2 on their way to their first WBC title, then returned to the finals in 2023. Cuba lived up to its history of strong international play by reaching the finals of the inaugural WBC in 2006 before losing to Japan. However, subsequent Cuban teams failed to make a significant mark on the tournament, making three straight second-round exits from 2009 to 2017. Cuba did make it back to the semifinals in 2023, only to suffer a blowout loss to Team USA in the countries' first-ever WBC meeting. Meanwhile, Caribbean rival Puerto Rico made consecutive appearances in the WBC finals in 2013 and 2017, albeit losing both, and stood second to Japan for the most all-time WBC wins (23) after the 2023 tournament.
Of the seven teams to have earned their way into the WBC through the qualification round, only Israel has gone on to reach the second round of the main tournament, doing so in its debut in 2017. Conversely, of the 14 teams to appear in all five tournaments, two have never advanced past the first round: Canada and China. Australia, having also appeared in all four previous tournaments, made it to the second round for the first time in 2023.
Since the WBC's format allows multiple nations to host different rounds of the event, seven different nations have hosted at least one round through the first five iterations of the tournament. Records of each nation when playing on its home soil are listed below.
Japan is the only nation to successfully defend the World Baseball Classic as defending champions in 2009. Puerto Rico achieved runners-up in the World Baseball Classic as defending runners-up in 2017. The worst performance of defending champions was by the Dominican Republic in 2017, eliminating in the second round (now the quarterfinals).
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