National team appearances in the World Baseball Classic

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, United States, and Venezuela are the only countries to earn first place, in 2013, 2017, and 2026, 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 outside of 2026, 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.^{[citation needed]} The WBC does not hold a third-place playoff, so the ranking of the third- and fourth-placed teams is determined by the WBSC.

Teams reaching the top four

Team	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Total
Japan	3 (2006, 2009, 2023)	–	2 (2013, 2017)		5
United States	1 (2017)	2 (2023, 2026)	–	1 (2009)	4
Dominican Republic	1 (2013)	–	1 (2026)	1 (2006)	3
Venezuela	1 (2026)	–	1 (2009)	–	2
Puerto Rico	–	2 (2013, 2017)	–	–	2
South Korea	–	1 (2009)	1 (2006)	–	2
Cuba	–	1 (2006)	–	1 (2023)	2
Mexico	–	–	1 (2023)	–	1
Netherlands	–	–		2 (2013, 2017)	2
Italy	–	–	–	1 (2026)	1

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.

Year	Debutants	Total	CT
2006	Australia,  Canada,  China,  Chinese Taipei,  Cuba,  Dominican Republic,  Italy,  Japan,  Mexico,  Netherlands,  Panama,  Puerto Rico,  South Korea,  South Africa,  United States,  Venezuela	16	16
2009	None	0	16
2013	Brazil,  Spain	2	18
2017	Colombia,  Israel	2	20
2023	Great Britain,  Czech Republic,  Nicaragua	3	23
2026	None	0	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.

Team	2006 (16)	2009 (16)	2013 (16)	2017 (16)	2023 (20)	2026 (20)	Total
Argentina	×	×	×	×	•	×	0
Australia	R1 13th	R1 12th	R1 16th	R1 9th	QF 7th	R1 9th	6
Brazil	×	×	R1 14th	•	•	R1 20th	2
Canada	R1 9th	R1 13th	R1 12th	R1 15th	R1 12th	QF 6th	6
China	R1 15th	R1 11th	R1 13th	R1 16th	R1 20th	•	5
Chinese Taipei	R1 12th	R1 14th	R2 8th	R1 14th	R1 17th	R1 13th	6
Colombia	×	×	•	R1 11th	R1 18th	R1 14th	3
Cuba	2nd	R2 6th	R2 5th	R2 7th	4th	R1 10th	6
Czechia	×	×	•	•	R1 14th	R1 19th	2
Dominican Republic	4th	R1 9th	1st	R2 5th	R1 10th	3rd	6
France	×	×	•	•	•	×	0
Germany	×	×	•	•	•	•	0
Great Britain	×	×	•	•	R1 15th	R1 15th	2
Israel	×	×	•	R2 6th	R1 16th	R1 12th	3
Italy	R1 10th	R1 10th	R2 7th	R1 12th	QF 8th	4th	6
Japan	1st	1st	3rd	3rd	1st	QF 5th	6
Mexico	R2 6th	R2 8th	R1 11th	R1 13th	3rd	R1 11th	6
Netherlands	R1 11th	R2 7th	4th	4th	R1 11th	R1 16th	6
New Zealand	×	×	•	•	•	×	0
Nicaragua	×	×	•	•	R1 19th	R1 18th	2
Pakistan	×	×	×	•	•	×	0
Panama	R1 14th	R1 15th	•	•	R1 13th	R1 17th	4
Philippines	×	×	•	•	×	×	0
Puerto Rico	R2 5th	R2 5th	2nd	2nd	QF 6th	QF 7th	6
South Africa	R1 16th	R1 16th	•	•	•	•	2
South Korea	3rd	2nd	R1 9th	R1 10th	R1 9th	QF 8th	6
Spain	×	×	R1 15th	•	•	•	1
Thailand	×	×	•	×	×	×	0
United States	R2 8th	4th	R2 6th	1st	2nd	2nd	6
Venezuela	R2 7th	3rd	R1 10th	R2 8th	QF 5th	1st	6
Team	2006 (16)	2009 (16)	2013 (16)	2017 (16)	2023 (20)	2026 (20)	Total

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

Team	Part	Pld	W	L	PCT
Japan	6	43	34	9	.791
Dominican Republic	6	34	25	9	.735
Puerto Rico	6	39	26	13	.667
United States	6	42	26	16	.619
South Korea	6	31	19	12	.613
Venezuela	6	36	22	14	.611
Cuba	6	36	20	16	.556
Israel	3	14	7	7	.500
Mexico	6	28	13	15	.464
Italy	6	26	12	14	.462
Netherlands	6	32	14	18	.438
Canada	6	20	8	12	.400
Australia	6	21	7	14	.333
Chinese Taipei	6	21	7	14	.333
Colombia	3	11	3	8	.273
Great Britain	2	8	2	6	.250
Panama	4	13	3	10	.231
China	5	16	2	14	.125
Czech Republic	2	8	1	7	.125
Spain	1	3	0	3	.000
South Africa	2	5	0	5	.000
Brazil	2	7	0	7	.000
Nicaragua	2	8	0	8	.000

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.

Team	Pld	W	L	PCT
Japan	27	24	3	.888
Puerto Rico	16	12	4	.750
United States	39	24	15	.615
Chinese Taipei	7	4	3	.571
Mexico	7	3	4	.429
South Korea	3	1	2	.333
Canada	2	0	2	.000

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

Rk	Team	Wins
1	Cuba	4
	Puerto Rico	4
	South Korea	4
4	Dominican Republic	3
	Italy	3
	Mexico	3
	Venezuela	3
8	Canada	2
	Japan	2
10	5 others	1

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).

Year	Defending champions	Finish	Defending runners-up	Finish
2009	Japan	Champions	Cuba	Second round
2013	Japan	Third place	South Korea	First round
2017	Dominican Republic	Second round	Puerto Rico	Runners-up
2023	United States	Runners-up	Puerto Rico	Quarterfinals
2026	Japan	Quarterfinals	United States	Runners-up

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