2021 World Baseball Classic
The 2021 World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international professional baseball tournament. The 2021 WBC is scheduled to be the fifth iteration of the WBC. The tournament has been expanded to accommodate 20 national teams from 16 teams of the 2017 edition.[2]
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Host countries | |
Dates | March 9, 2021 – March 23, 2021[1] |
Teams | 20 |
Defending champions | |
← 2017 |
Qualification
In January 2020, the WBC announced the 16 national teams which participated at the 2017 World Baseball Classic will automatically qualify for the tournament.[3]
A qualifying tournament was scheduled for March 2020 in Tucson, Arizona, United States to determine the last four teams.[3] Twelve teams were split into two pools, and the top two teams in each pool will qualify.[2] On March 12, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that the qualifying tournaments were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
Venues
Four stadiums are planned to be used during the main tournament.[5]
Pool A | Pool B & Quarterfinals | Pool C | Pool D, Quarterfinals & Championship |
---|---|---|---|
Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium | Tokyo Dome | Chase Field | Marlins Park |
Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 45,600 | Capacity: 48,686 | Capacity: 36,742 |
References
- "Dates and venues announced for 2021 World Baseball Classic". Major League Baseball. February 25, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
The fifth installment of the WBC, which will be played from March 9-23, 2021, will take place at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan and the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium in Taoyuan, Taiwan; the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan; Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, in Phoenix, Arizona; and Marlins Park, home of the Miami Marlins, in Miami, Florida.
- "Qualifiers set for expanded 2021 World Baseball Classic". Agence France-Presse. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- Nelson, Adam (30 January 2020). "World Baseball Classic to expand to 20 teams for 2021 edition". Sportbusiness.com.
- "Major League Baseball to delay 2020 Opening Day by at least two weeks". MLB.com Press Release. March 12, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- https://www.mlb.com/news/world-baseball-classic-venues