Baseball5 World Cup
Mixed-gender Baseball5 tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Baseball5 World Cup (B5WC, and sometimes referred to as the Senior Baseball5 World Cup)[1] is a mixed-gender Baseball5 (B5) world championship that occurs every two years, with the first edition held in 2022 in Mexico and contested by 12 countries.[2][3] It is governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).[4]
| Most recent season or competition: 2024 Baseball5 World Cup | |
| |
| Sport | Baseball5 |
|---|---|
| First season | 2022 |
| Administrator | World Baseball Softball Confederation |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Most recent champion |  Cuba (2nd title) (2024) |
| Most titles | Cuba (2 titles) |
| Related competitions | Youth Baseball5 World Cup |
| Official website | baseball5 |
History
The inaugural B5WC was originally planned to happen in December 2020 in Mexico.[5] The COVID-19 pandemic led to the delay of the B5WC to June 2021;[6] however, the continued impact of the pandemic delayed the B5WC further. It was later decided that the WC would be played every two years, starting in 2022.[3]
The 14-team 2020 European Baseball5 Championship held in February and March saw France and Lithuania take the two available Europe berths to qualify for the inaugural B5WC.[7][8] The Oceania qualifier was scheduled to be played in Australia in 2021.[9] The Asia qualifiers were scheduled to be played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in April 2021,[10] but were then postponed due to COVID-19 to August 17–19, 2022.[11][2]
The first edition of the tournament, held in Mexico City, was won by Cuba, who finished the championship undefeated.[12]
In April 2023, it was confirmed that Hong Kong will host the second edition of the tournament, from October 7 to 12, 2024.[13] On the eve of the tournament, it was announced that future editions will have 16 teams (split into four groups) and play 56 games total.[14]
In October 2024 it was announced that Rome will host the 2026 tournament.[15]
Format
The 16 countries participating in the World Cup are geographically broken down as follows:[16]
- The host nation automatically qualifies.
- The host nation of the previous edition automatically qualifies.
- 4 countries from the Americas
- 3 from Europe
- 2 from Africa
- 3 from Asia
- 1 from Oceania
- 1 Wild Card (selected by WBSC)
The 16 countries play a total of 56 games over four or five days.[16]
Each team has five active players and eight players total on the roster, with the mixed-gender nature of the tournament requiring teams to have half of their roster to be of each gender, and at least two active players per gender in the game.[5][17]
Players must be a minimum of 15 years old during the calendar year of the tournament.[18]
Results
Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuba | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 |  Japan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 |  Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 France | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (4 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Participating nations
- 1st — Champion
- 2nd — Runner-up
- 3rd — Third place
- # — Position
- × — Withdrew
- — Hosts
| Teams |  2022 |
 2024 |
 2026 |
Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australia |
x | 12th | 1 | |
 China |
x | 9th | 1 | |
 Chinese Taipei |
3rd | 5th | 2 | |
 Cuba |
1st | 1st | 2 | |
 France |
9th | 3rd | 2 | |
 Hong Kong |
12th | 10th | 2 | |
 Japan |
2nd | 2nd | 2 | |
 Kenya |
8th | x | 1 | |
 Lithuania |
11th | 8th | 2 | |
 Mexico |
5th | 6th | 2 | |
 South Africa |
7th | 11th | 2 | |
 South Korea |
10th | x | 1 | |
 Tunisia |
6th | 7th | 2 | |
 Venezuela |
4th | 4th | 2 | |
| No. of Teams |
12 | 12 |