Il 2026 of baseball it has just begun and yet the international federation is already looking at what intense things will happen in this three-year period which will lead up to Olympics in Los Angeles 2028. In fact, in less than two months it will begin World Baseball Classic, but the WSBC has recently announced the qualification criteria for the Premier 12 as well.
The international tournament changes format: it goes from 12 to 16 teams, expanding. The first dozen teams in the world ranking, as of 12/31/2025, will participate by right, while the other 4 teams will be admitted to the event through qualifying groups; with Italy also involved.
The qualifiers (12)
Japan, China Taipei, United States, Korea, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, Netherlands, Cuba, Australia and Dominican Republic: these are the 12 qualified by the global ranking.
Qualifiers to add (4)
There will be 8 teams taking part in the qualifying groups, the teams from 13th to 19th position in the world ranking, from these 4 will access the Premier 12 while 4 will be definitively eliminated. The list: ItaliaColombia, Czechia, Nicaragua, China, Germany, Great Britain. The last team included in the race for the Premier 12 – as reported by FIBS – will be either the host nation of the second qualifier if it is ranked outside the top 20, or Canada, number 20 in the WBSC ranking
How the qualifying groups work
Each of the 2 events will see 4 national teams at the start, who will compete in a single Italian-style group, with the top two admitted to the final phase. One of the two tournaments will be held in Zhongshan (China) from 26 to 29 November 2026. It has not yet been announced where the second round will be held, nor have the draws for the inclusion of the teams been made official.
