National team appearances in the World Baseball Classic

This article lists the performances of each of the 23 national teams which have made at least one appearance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The 2006 and 2009 tournaments, each had the same 16-team field, chosen by invitation. Beginning with the 2013 tournament, the four last-place teams from the previous tournament's first round each contested a qualifying round against three additional teams. The outcome of this process has been that 14 of the original 16 teams have continued to appear in every tournament. In 2013, Canada and Chinese Taipei re-qualified, while Panama and South Africa were respectively replaced by Brazil and Spain. In 2017, Australia and Mexico re-qualified while Brazil and Spain were respectively replaced by Colombia and Israel.

The four teams to have won the tournament are Japan (2006, 2009, 2023), the Dominican Republic (2013), the United States (2017) and Venezuela (2026). Other teams to have reached the championship game are Cuba (2006), South Korea (2009), and Puerto Rico (2013, 2017). Other teams to have reached the semifinals are Venezuela (2009), the Netherlands (2013, 2017), Mexico (2023), and Italy (2026). Other teams to have reached the quarterfinals (previously the second round) are Chinese Taipei (2013), Israel (2017), Australia (2023) and Canada (2026). Venezuela is the current champion, defeating the United States at the 2026 WBC Final.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) currently divides all countries into five confederations based on their region: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.^[1] Currently, the two best confederations in international baseball are Americas and Asia, as both confederations add up to 18 of the 20 top four finishes (three titles for Asia and two titles for the Americas). While the appearances of the Americas region expands throughout, all appearances for Asia in the World Baseball Classic were by countries in East Asia in particular. Europe holds the other 2 of the 16 top four finishes, both coming from the Netherlands with the help of the Dutch Caribbean.^[2] Italy's and Israel's top eight appearances in 2013 and 2017 respectively have led the region's growth in baseball in addition to the Netherlands' two top four finishes.^[3][4] As for Africa and Oceania, both regions lack a baseball scene in general, although South Africa and Australia are indisputably the best two countries in baseball in their respective regions due to their strong leagues.^[5][6] In addition, both countries make up all of the World Baseball Classic appearances for their respective regions, including a quarterfinals finish by Australia in 2023.

As decorated as the Americas region is, only six countries in the region have ever made the top four: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States, and Venezuela. The Dominican Republic and United States are the only countries to earn first place, in 2013 and 2017 respectively. In addition to the aforementioned champions, Cuba and Puerto Rico are the only other countries to have made the top four more than once. As for Asia, the countries in East Asia dominate the baseball scene in that region, as Japan and South Korea are the only two countries in that region to appear more than once in the top four. On top of that, Japan is the only country in the world to appear in the top four in all iterations of the World Baseball Classic, with three first-place finishes earned. As such, all bids so far have been granted to those two regions.

After the conclusion of each WBC championship game, players from the losing team receive silver medals, followed by the winners receiving gold medals. The third-place team receives bronze medals at a separate date. The WBC does not hold a third-place playoff, so the ranking of the third- and fourth-placed teams is determined by the WBSC.

The 2009 tournament is the only World Baseball Classic in which every team had appeared in at least one of the previous tournament. Prior to all 16 teams that participated in the 2006 tournament were invited to the tournament that year. The total number of teams that have participated in the World Baseball Classic until the 2023 edition is 23.

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
• QF – Quarterfinals (2023–present)
• R2 – Round 2 (2006–2017: second round)
• R1 – Round 1 (2006–2017: first round, 2023–present: pool stage)
•      – Relegated to qualification tournament
• Q – Qualified
•  •  – Did not qualify
•  ×  – Did not enter

A total of 23 nations have competed in the WBC proper, with 13 appearing in all six editions. Japan has been the most successful, as the only nation with multiple WBC titles (2006, 2009, 2023), the nation with the most wins in WBC play (34), and the most appearances (5) in the semifinal stage. Japan also owns the best overall winning percentage in WBC games at .791 (34–9 record), bolstered by its 7–0 mark en route to the 2023 title.

Along with Japan, two other nations have advanced to at least the second round in all six WBCs: the United States and Puerto Rico. The US posted a 10–10 overall record through the first three WBCs, with only one appearance in the semifinals. The Americans broke through in 2017, going 6–2 on their way to their first WBC title, then returned to the finals in 2023 and 2026. Puerto Rico made consecutive appearances in the WBC finals in 2013 and 2017, albeit losing both, and stood tied with the US for the second-most all-time WBC wins (26) following the 2026 tournament.

Of the 13 teams to appear in all six tournaments, all have advanced past the first round. Australia made it to the second round for the first time in 2023, and Canada advanced to the second round for the first time in 2026. Of the seven teams to have earned their way into the WBC through the qualification round, only Israel has gone on to reach the second round of the main tournament, doing so in its debut in 2017.

Updated after 2026 World Baseball Classic. Teams in bold were part of the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Since the WBC's format allows multiple nations to host different rounds of the event, seven different nations have hosted at least one round through the first six iterations of the tournament. Records of each nation when playing on its home soil are listed below.

The following table lists the teams who've earned the most wins against host countries.

Japan is the only nation to successfully defend the World Baseball Classic as defending champions in 2009. Puerto Rico achieved runners-up in the World Baseball Classic as defending runners-up in 2017. The worst performance of defending champions were by the Dominican Republic in 2017 and Japan in 2026, both eliminating in the second round (now the quarterfinals).

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.

This is a summary of the total number of participating teams by confederation in each tournament.

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