A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Countries | Japan Taiwan United States |
| Dates | March 8–21, 2023[1] |
| Teams | 20 (from 4 confederations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Japan (3rd title) |
| Runner-up |  United States |
| Third place |  Mexico |
| Fourth place |  Cuba |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 47 |
| Attendance | 1,165,857 (24,805 per game) |
| MVP | Shohei Ohtani |
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21.
It was originally scheduled to take place in 2021, four years after the previous event, but was canceled in May 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] It was later announced that qualifications for the Classic would start in September 2022, as agreed by World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI)[3] The tournament expanded from 16 to 20 national teams, with all teams that participated in the 2017 edition automatically qualifying, plus four additional spots.[4] Unlike in 2009, 2013 and 2017, the U.S. lineup attracted some distinguished players and attracted significant attention for the tournament.[5]
Japan won their record-extending third title after defeating defending champions United States 3–2 in the championship game, becoming the second team since the Dominican Republic in the 2013 World Baseball Classic to win the WBC with an undefeated record. Shohei Ohtani was named the World Baseball Classic Most Valuable Player.[6]
Teams
Qualification
In January 2020, the WBC announced that the 16 national teams which participated at the 2017 World Baseball Classic would automatically qualify for the 2023 tournament.[7]
A qualifying tournament was scheduled for March 2020 in Tucson, Arizona, United States, to determine the last four teams.[7] Twelve teams were split into two pools, and the top two teams in each pool would qualify.[4] On March 12, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that the qualifying tournaments were being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] The qualification tournament ended up postponing to September 16–21, 2022, for the Africa/Europe qualifiers and September 30 – October 5, 2022, for the Americas/Asia/Oceania qualifiers.[9]
The Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Nicaragua made their first appearance in the World Baseball Classic, while Panama returned after having missed out on two World Baseball Classic appearances. This was the third consecutive time that South Africa, the only African team, did not qualify for the World Baseball Classic, and the second consecutive time that both Brazil and Spain did not qualify. With Panama qualified for the World Baseball Classic for the first time since 2009, South Africa now has the longest active WBC appearance drought at 14 years, having not qualified since 2009.
| Region | Team | Qualification method |
Prev. apps |
Previous best result | WBSC World Rankings[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americas |  Canada
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017) | 14 |
 Colombia
|
Automatically qualified | 1 | Pool stage (2017) | 11 | |
| Cuba
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Runners-up (2006) | 8 | |
 Dominican Republic
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Champions (2013) | 9 | |
| Mexico
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Quarterfinals (2006, 2009) | 5 | |
 Puerto Rico
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Runners-up (2013, 2017) | 13 | |
| United States
|
Automatically qualified as hosts | 4 | Champions (2017) | 3 | |
 Venezuela
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Third place (2009) | 6 | |
 Panama
|
Qualifier 2 Winners | 2 | Pool stage (2006, 2009) | 12 | |
 Nicaragua
|
Qualifier 2 Runners-up | 0 | None (debut) | 17 | |
| Asia |  China
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017) | 30 |
 Chinese Taipei
|
Automatically qualified as hosts | 4 | Quarterfinals (2013) | 2 | |
| Japan
|
Automatically qualified as hosts | 4 | Champions (2006, 2009) | 1 | |
 South Korea
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Runners-up (2009) | 4 | |
| Europe |  Israel
|
Automatically qualified | 1 | Quarterfinals (2017) | 20 |
 Italy
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Quarterfinals (2013) | 16 | |
 Netherlands
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Fourth place (2013, 2017) | 7 | |
 Great Britain
|
Qualifier 1 Winners | 0 | None (debut) | 22 | |
 Czech Republic
|
Qualifier 1 Runners-up | 0 | None (debut) | 15 | |
| Oceania |  Australia
|
Automatically qualified | 4 | Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017) | 10 |
Draw
The pool draw was announced by World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI) on July 7, 2022.[11] Organizers prioritized placement in separate pools of the four nations which reached the semifinals of the 2017 WBC (Japan, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and the United States) and the three hosts (Japan, the United States, and Taiwan). Remaining pool assignments were made based on WBSC World Rankings, competitive balance, and commercial and geographic interest.[12]
Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the WBSC World Rankings at the time of the draw.[13]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 | Pot 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan (1) (H) Chinese Taipei (2) (H) United States (5) (H) Puerto Rico (16)
|
Netherlands (8) South Korea (3) Mexico (4) Dominican Republic (6)
|
Venezuela (7) Cuba (9) Australia (10) Colombia (11)
|
Canada (12) Italy (17) Israel (20) China (21)
|
Panama (13)[A] Czech Republic (14)[B] Nicaragua (15)[C] Great Britain (24)[D]
|
Venues
Four stadiums were used during the main tournament.[14][15]
| Pool A | Pool B & Quarterfinals | Pool C | Pool D, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championship |
|---|---|---|---|
 Taichung, Taiwan
|
Tokyo, Japan
|
Phoenix, United States
|
Miami, United States
|
| Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium | Tokyo Dome | Chase Field | LoanDepot Park |
| Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 45,600 | Capacity: 48,686 | Capacity: 36,742 |
|
|
|
|
Attendance
The first round of the tournament drew 1,010,999 fans across all four venues, nearly double the previous record for the WBC.[16] This included 361,976 fans in Tokyo for Pool B and 295,850 fans in Miami for Pool D. Total attendance for the tournament across all rounds was 1,306,414, the highest in WBC history.[17]