(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Sites announced for 2026 World Baseball Classic
Nederlands
 NEW YORK, New York (USA) -
On Thursday (May 23), the host-cities and playing sites were announced for the sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic, which will take place in March 2026.
In two years, the games in Pool A will be played in Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan (Puerto Rico).
The teams in Pool B will play their games in Minute Maid Park in Houston (USA).
Pool C will be played in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo (Japan) and the site for Pool D will be loanDepot Park in Miami (USA).
After the preliminary rounds, the Quarter Finals will be played in both Houston and Miami in the home-sites of Major League-clubs Houston Astros and Miami Marlins.
The games in the Championship Round will also be played in Miami.
It will mark the first time that WBC-games will be played in Houston.
The last time that games were played in Puerto Rico was in 2013.
San Juan also was a playing site during the first edition in 2006 and the second one in 2009.
In 2006, Dutch pitcher Shairon Martis threw the lone No-Hitter in WBC-history in Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
Miami has been a host-site in all four previous editions since 2009.
Tokyo has been one of the locations all World Baseball Classics.
Twenty countries will participate in the global event.
Sixteen of them qualified by finishing in the top-four of each Pool during the previous edition, which took place last year.
These countries are
Australia, Canada, Cuba, Czechia, Dominican Republic, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama,
Puerto Rico, South Korea, USA and Venezuela.
The remaining four teams will be determined via Qualifying Tournaments, that will be played in 2025.
Japan is the reigning WBC-Champion.
Last year, Japan won the Final against the USA, 3-2.
Japan also won the Classic in 2006 and 2009.
The Dominican Republic won in 2013, the USA in 2017.
The Netherlands finished in fourth place in 2013 and 2017.
Last year, the Oranje Team was surprisingly eliminated in the First Round.
(May 23)
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