World Baseball Classic, one of the biggest baseball competitions in the world, starts today, March 5, between 20 teams from all continents, aiming to lift the equivalent of the Baseball World Cup, a competition that was abandoned in 2011, replaced by this competition that has been held five times since 2006 and has been won three times by Japan (including the most recent edition in 2023), one by United States and one by Dominican Republic.
Baseball is not the most popular sport in Europe, but it still has a big representation (the Netherlands is the only European team to ever reach the semifinals, finishing in fourth place twice). In the 2026 World Baseball Classic, participating teams from Europe are Czechia, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, and Netherlands.
All 20 teams from World Baseball Classic
Here are all teams in World Baseball Classic 2026, divided in four pools. After matches, only the top two teams qualify for quarterfinals.
Pool A
Puerto Rico
Cuba
Canada
Panama
Colombia
Pool B
United States
Mexico
Italy
Great Britain
Brazil
Pool C
Japan
Australia
South Korea
Czechia
Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
Pool D
Venezuela
Dominican Republic
Netherlands
Israel
Nicaragua
How to watch World Baseball Classic in Europe
Fans who want to watch World Baseball Classic live will have to adapt to inconvenient times, as the matches, held in four places, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Houston, United States; Tokyo and Miami.
Nevertheless, here's a list of local European broadcasters of the World Baseball Classic in (some) countries.
Netherlands: ESPN
Czechia: Ceska Televize
Israel: Sport5
United Kingdom: TNT UK
France: beIN Sport
Italy: Sky Italia
Germany: SportDigital+
Hungary: Sport 1
Turkey: S Sport Plus
The group stage will last until March 11. Quarter-finals will follow on March 13-14, semifinals on March 15-16 and the final, at the LoanDepot Park in Miami, will be on March 17 (2:00 AM of March 18 in CET).
Will you follow the World Baseball Classic 2026?