Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Britain in USA’s group at 2026 World Baseball Classic

Brazil will join the United States, Mexico, Italy and Britain in Group B of the first round of next year’s World Baseball Classic at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

Major League Baseball and the players’ association on Wednesday allocated the four qualifiers for the 20-nation tournament, which runs from March 5-17.

Taiwan was added to Group C at the Tokyo Dome, where it will meet defending champion Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Czech Republic.

Colombia will be in Group A with Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama and Canada at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

Nicaragua will join Group D with the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the Netherlands and Israel at Miami’s loan Depot park.

The Tokyo group will run from March 5-10, with the others from March 6-11.

The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals on March 13 and 14, with teams from Groups A and B playing in Houston and nations emerging from Groups C and D meeting in Miami. The semifinals will be March 15 and 16 at Miami, which will be the site of the final on March 17.

Japan beat the United States 3-2 for the 2023 title at Miami as Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to end the game. Japan also won titles in 2006 and 2009, while the Dominican Republic won in 2013 and the U.S. in 2017.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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