Who will rule the 2026 World Baseball Classic?
Three years after Japan hoisted the 2023 WBC champions trophy after a thrilling title game triumph over the United States, the 20-team tournament is back for another edition.
As the action heats up, we asked 13 of our ESPN baseball experts to predict how this year’s tourney will play out — from which teams will advance out of each pool to which will be the last standing in the championship round along with their picks for MVP, top pitcher and breakout star the whole world will soon know.
WBC Power Rankings | Scores | Odds
Opening Round
Pool A
(Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico)
Winner: Puerto Rico (10 votes), Canada (4)
Also advancing: Canada (7), Puerto Rico (5); Colombia (1), Cuba (1)
A roster featuring MLB stars Nolan Arenado, Edwin Diaz and Seth Lugo was enough to give Puerto Rico the nod over an emerging Canada squad in the eyes of our voters — and the vast majority of our experts predicted that both countries would move on to the quarterfinals.
Pool B
(Brazil, Great Britain, Mexico, Italy, United States)
Winner: United States (14)
Also advancing: Italy (3), Mexico (11)
Aaron Judge. Cal Raleigh. Bobby Witt Jr. Paul Skenes. With MVPs and MLB superstars up and down the roster, there was no question Team USA would be the team to beat and our experts agreed in making the United States a unanimous choice to advance.
The real intrigue comes from a small group of voters predicting an Italy team featuring several major leaguers — including Kansas City Royals sluggers Jac Caglianone and Vinnie Pasquantino — will edge Mexico for this pool’s second quarterfinal spot.
Pool C
(Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan, Korea)
Winner: Japan (14)
Also advancing: Korea (13), Australia (1)
One expert’s faith that an Australia team featuring 2024 No. 1 draft pick Travis Bazzana will be the surprise of this WBC is the only thing that kept Japan and Korea from a clean sweep of our Pool C predictions.
Pool D
(Venezuela, Netherlands, DR, Israel, Nicaragua)
Winner: Dominican Republic (14)
Also advancing: Venezuela (14)
With a star-studded roster featuring Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr. and Cristopher Sanchez to name a few, the Dominican Republic was a clear choice to rule Pool D in the eyes of our voters.
Similarly, a Venezuela team with MLB stars such as Ronald Acuna Jr., Jackson Chourio, William Contreras and Ranger Suarez to lean on was also a unanimous pick to move on from this group.
WBC champion
United States (6)
Who picked Team USA: Tim Keown, Paul Hembekides, Eric Karabell, Kiley McDaniel, Dan Mullen, Jeff Passan
Dominican Republic (5)
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Runner-up: U.S. (4)
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Runner-up: Japan (1)
Who picked Dominican Republic: Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez, Matt Marrone, Jesse Rogers, David Schoenfield
Japan (3)
Who picked Japan: Bradford Doolittle, Tristan Cockcroft, Buster Olney
There was no doubt in the eyes of our voters that the three superteams going into the tournament will be the final teams remaining at the end, but exactly how the championship round will play out was a much tougher question with the U.S. getting the narrow nod as the team to beat.
Individual honors
WBC MVP
Juan Soto, Dominican Republic (3)
Two votes each: Bobby Witt Jr., U.S.; Aaron Judge, U.S.
One vote each: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Dominican Republic; Bryce Harper, U.S.; Shohei Ohtani, Japan; Kyle Schwarber, U.S.; Paul Skenes, U.S.; Seiya Suzuki, Japan; Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Japan
Even though the Dominican Republic wasn’t our top choice to win it all, Juan Soto was the most popular pick to dominate the tournament, with the rest of the leaderboard a who’s who of MLB superstars.
Top pitcher
Five votes each: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Japan; Paul Skenes, U.S.
Christopher Sanchez, Dominican Republic (2)
One vote each: Sandy Alcantara, Dominican Republic; Yusei Kikuchi, Japan
Fresh off his MLB postseason dominance for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yamamoto was the clear choice to rule on the mound again this spring followed by reigning NL Cy Young winner Skenes and runner-up Sanchez.
Breakout star
Two votes each: Roman Anthony, U.S.; Jac Caglianone, Italy; Travis Bazzana, Australia; Owen Caissie, Canada
One vote each: Michael Arroyo, Colombia; Denzel Clarke, Canada; Joseph Contreras, Brazil; Jakob Marsee, Italy; Munetaka Murakami, Japan; Kim Do-yeong, Korea
Left open for interpretation by our experts, our breakout picks range from budding stars already playing at the major league level in Anthony and Caglianone to a 17-year-old high school ace in Contreras
