The United States lost to Venezuela 3-2 in the finals of the World Baseball Classic on March 17 at loanDepot park in Miami. This is the second time in a row the U.S. has lost in the finals, losing to Japan in 2023 with the same score of 3-2. With the win, Venezuela gained its first WBC title after competing in all six previous WBCs. 

The WBC was originally meant to be every three years before being altered to every four years. It has been interrupted by the Olympic Games and the Covid pandemic in 2020. While other countries host the pool and knockout stages of the tournament, finals take place in the U.S. 

In 2023, the WBC moved from a 16-team layout to a 20-team layout to accommodate the growing global interest. The 2026 tournament set a new attendance record at 1.62 million fans and the U.S. match against the Dominican Republic was the most watched WBC broadcast in the tournament’s history with 6.9 million viewers.  

The 20 teams were organized into four pools. After pool play, which was held in Miami, Houston, Tokyo, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, the top two teams in each pool advanced on to the quarterfinals. 

In the quarterfinals on March 13 in Miami, the Dominican Republic defeated Korea 10-0. They started the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the second inning, followed by four in the fourth inning and three more in the seventh inning to end the game by the 10-run, or mercy, rule. The U.S. beat Canada 5-3 in Houston, striking in the first, third and sixth innings. Canada plated three runs, with one being a home run by Bo Naylor. 

Italy took a quarterfinal win over Puerto Rico 8-6 in Houston on March 14. Puerto Rico came out with a lead off a home run on the second pitch of the game, but was unable to keep up with Italy, who ended the first inning 4-1. In Miami on March 14, Venezuela won against Japan 8-5. 10 of the 13 total runs were scored from home runs. 

In the semifinal on March 15, the U.S. beat the Dominican Republic 2-1. The first score came from the Dominican Republic in the bottom of the second with a solo homer from Junior Caminero. The U.S. responded in the top of the fourth inning with solo home runs from Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony. This qualified the U.S. for its third straight WBC Championship appearance, after appearances in 2023 and 2017. 

In the second semifinal game March 16, Venezuela won against Italy 4-2. Italy scored two runs in the second inning and held the lead until the seventh inning. Venezuela scored one in the fourth inning off a solo homer by Eugenio Suárez and secured three more runs in the seventh from a walk and a couple of singles. 

On March 17, Venezuela won in the finals over the U.S. in a down-to-the-wire game. Venezuela started out scoring in the third inning with a sacrifice fly to center by Maikel Garcia to score Salvador Perez. In the fifth inning, Venezuela scored another run off a solo home run from Wilyer Abreu. In the bottom of the eighth, the U.S.’s Bryce Harper tied the game with a home run that scored him and Bobby Witt Jr. 

This was just Harper’s fourth hit of the whole tournament after coming into the tournament as one of MLB’s biggest hitters. In the top of the ninth, Suárez doubled to score Javier Sanoja and took the lead once again for Venezuela. The team held the U.S. from scoring in the bottom of the ninth to secure their first WBC title. 

Venezuela and the Dominican Republic qualified for the 2028 Summer Olympics by being the top two non-host teams. The next WBC is scheduled for March 2030.