New York. The rivals that Mexico will face in the 2026 World Classic were revealed. The tricolor team will seek to repeat its brilliant performance in 2023, where they reached the semifinals and fell by the minimum to Japan (5-6). In the group stage, they will face the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom, members of Group B, and the matches will be held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, the organizers reported.
In Group A, Puerto Rico will face Cuba, Panama and Canada at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, while defending champion Japan will face Australia, South Korea and the Czech Republic in Group C at Tokyo Dome.
Finally, Sector D will be comprised of the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the Netherlands and Israel at Loan Depot Park in Miami.
Announcing the pools and schedule for the 2026 #WorldBaseballClassic!
The opening round starts March 5, quarterfinals start March 13 and the championship round begins March 15! pic.twitter.com/tT5h848dcs
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) August 21, 2024
Each group will include one nation from a qualifying round that will take place between February and March 2025. The Tokyo group will play from March 5 to 10, while the remaining groups will play from March 6 to 11 next year.
In the World Classic, the top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals on March 13-14. Groups A and B will play in Houston, and Groups C and D will play in Miami. The semifinals will be held on March 15-16 in the same city, as will the final on March 17.
Japan beat the United States 3-2 to claim the title in 2023 when Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to end the game. The Asian team also won the title in 2006 and 2009, while the Dominican Republic took it in 2013 and the United States in 2017.
Houston will host matches for the first time in its history and San Juan will host for the first time since 2013. Tokyo has hosted one of the groups in the last five editions.
#Mexico #rivals #World #Baseball #Classic
– 2024-08-24 02:05:08
