Venezuela national baseball team
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The Venezuela national baseball team (Spanish: Selección de béisbol de Venezuela[2] or Selección de Venezuela)[3] also known as "Arepa Power" is the national baseball team of Venezuela.[4] It is currently ranked fifth in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.[1]
| Venezuela National Baseball Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Information | |||
| Country |  Venezuela | ||
| Federation | Venezuelan Baseball Federation | ||
| Confederation | WBSC Americas | ||
| Manager | Omar López | ||
| Captain | Salvador Perez | ||
| Team Colors | Yellow, Blue, Red, White, Cool Gray | ||
| WBSC ranking | |||
| Current | 5  (26 March 2026)[1] | ||
| Highest | 3 (first in December 2024) | ||
| Lowest | 11 (first in September 2018) | ||
| Uniforms | |||
| |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 0, qualified for 2028 edition (first in 2028) | ||
| Best result | To be determined | ||
| World Baseball Classic | |||
| Appearances | 6 (first in 2006) | ||
| Best result |  1st (1 time, in 2026) | ||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 18 (first in 1940) | ||
| Best result | 1st (3 times, most recent in [[ Baseball World Cup|]]) | ||
| Intercontinental Cup | |||
| Appearances | 2 (first in 1973) | ||
| Best result | 6 (1 time, in 2002) | ||
| Pan American Games | |||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 1955) | ||
| Best result |  1st (1 time, in 1959) | ||
Venezuela has competed in every edition of the World Baseball Classic since 2006, with its best result before 2026 being a semifinal appearance in 2009. It won its first major international title in the 1941 Amateur World Series, defeating a heavily favored Team Cuba, and won two more world championships in the 1940s. It has also historically dominated baseball at the Bolivarian Games. In 2026, it qualified for the Summer Olympics for the first time via its performance in the World Baseball Classic.
Venezuela competed against Israel, Netherlands, Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua in the 2026 World Baseball Classic from March 6–11, 2026, at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. After advancing from the group stage, Team Venezuela was undefeated in the knockout stage, facing Japan, Italy, and finally United States, notching their first World Baseball Classic win, 3–2.
History
Venezuela debuted in international competition at the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama City, finishing sixth. The country first participated in what was then the top level of international baseball competition, the Amateur World Series (later to be known as the Baseball World Cup), in 1940.
Venezuela won its first international baseball title the following year, defeating defending champions Cuba at the 1941 Amateur World Series in Havana. The championship team, with illustrious names from the country's amateur circuits like Héctor Benítez, Daniel "Chino" Canónico, and José Antonio Casanova, was hailed as "Los Heroes del '41" ("Heroes of '41"). The victory of the 1941 AWS is cited as the catalyst for baseball's exploding popularity in Venezuela,[5][6] Venezuelan President Isaías Medina Angarita declared October 22, the day of the championship game, a national holiday.
World Baseball Classic era
2009-23
Venezuela competed in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, playing its opening games in Pool C, in Toronto, Ontario. The Venezuelans secured advancement out of Pool C with a pair of resounding wins over Italy. Along the way, Venezuela also lost a 15–6 slugfest against the United States, but won twice against the same team.[7]
In the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Venezuela was eliminated by Puerto Rico, who went on to eliminate Italy, the United States and two-time defending champion Japan. Their placing as the third team in Pool C after defeating newcomers Spain was sufficient to secure direct qualification to the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The team competed against Team Israel, Team Puerto Rico, Team Dominican Republic, and Team Nicaragua in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Miami, Florida, coming in first in the pool, but losing to the U.S. in the next round.[8]
2026
Team Venezuela competed against Team Israel, Team Netherlands, Team Dominican Republic, and Team Nicaragua in pool play of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. They played from March 6–17, 2026, at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, in Pool D.[9]
Houston Astros bench coach Omar López managed Team Venezuela at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.[10]
After an upset victory against Team Japan in the quarterfinals,[11] a victory against the insurgent Team Italy in the semifinals,[12] the Venezuela national team won their first World Baseball Classic final against Team USA, 3–2.[13]
Olympics era
As one of the Latin American baseball powerhouses, Venezuela remarkably has not competed in the Olympics tournament which began from 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, unlike more famous teams such as Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.[14]
2028
The 2026 World Baseball Classic is the first tournament in any sport to have 2028 Summer Olympics qualification quota spots directly available, in this case for the top-two-performing Americas teams excluding Olympic hosts the United States, who have already qualified automatically.[15]
On 14 March 2026, after securing a vital victory against Japan in the quarterfinals, Venezuela qualified for the historically first time in the six-team baseball tournament for LA28.[16]
Current roster
| Venezuela roster – 2026 World Baseball Classic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaching staff | |||
Pitchers
|
Catchers Infielders
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of professional baseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.[17]
- Legend
Win Lose Void or postponed Fixture
2019
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 5 | Venezuela |
4–8 |  Japan |
Taoyuan Stadium, Taiwan |
| 18:00 NST | Boxscore | Attendance: 3,868 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 6 | Chinese Taipei  |
3–0 | Venezuela |
Taichung Stadium, Taiwan |
| 18:30 NST | Boxscore | Attendance: 10,983 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 7 | Venezuela |
7–1 |  Puerto Rico |
Taichung Stadium, Taiwan |
| 12:00 NST | Boxscore | Attendance: 618 |
2022
| Bolivarian Games RR | June 30 | Venezuela |
9–2 |  Dominican Republic |
Estadio Calamar, Colombia |
| 14:00 COT | Boxscore |
| Bolivarian Games RR | July 1 | Venezuela |
4–5 |  Peru |
Estadio Calamar, Colombia |
| 14:00 COT | Boxscore | Attendance: 2,450 |
| Bolivarian Games RR | July 2 | Colombia  |
10–0 (F/6) | Venezuela |
Estadio Calamar, Colombia |
| 19:00 COT | Boxscore |
| Bolivarian Games RR | July 3 | Dominican Republic |
14–2 | Venezuela |
Estadio Calamar, Colombia |
| 14:00 COT | Boxscore |
| Bolivarian Games RR | July 4 | Peru |
5–6 | Venezuela |
Estadio Calamar, Colombia |
| 14:00 COT | Boxscore |
| Bolivarian Games RR | July 5 | Venezuela |
7–1 | Colombia |
Estadio Calamar, Colombia |
| 14:00 COT | Boxscore |
2023
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 11 | Dominican Republic |
1–5 | Venezuela |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 19:00 ET | LP: Sandy Alcántara (0–1) |
Boxscore | WP: José Ruiz (1–0) HR: Anthony Santander (1) |
Attendance: 35,890 Umpires: HP – Andy Fletcher, 1B – Tim Meyer, 2B – Ron Kulpa, 3B – Maikol Tibabijo |
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 12 | Venezuela |
9–6 | Puerto Rico |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 19:00 ET | WP: Pablo López (1–0) Sv: Silvino Bracho (1) HR: Anthony Santander (2), Salvador Pérez (1) |
Boxscore | LP: José Berríos (0–1) HR: Eddie Rosario (1) |
Attendance: 35,615 Umpires: HP – Chris Guccione, 1B – Chris Graham, 2B – Alejandro Pecero, 3B – Mike Estabrook |
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 14 | Nicaragua  |
1–4 | Venezuela |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 12:00 ET | LP: Rodney Theophile (0–1) |
Boxscore | WP: José Ruiz (1–0) Sv: José Alvarado (1) |
Attendance: 21,873 Umpires: HP – Ángel Hernández, 1B – Chris Guccione, 2B – Alejandro Pecero, 3B – Tim Meyer |
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 15 | Venezuela |
5–1 |  Israel |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 12:00 ET | WP: Jesús Luzardo (1–0) HR: Eduardo Escobar (1), Eugenio Suárez (1) |
Boxscore | LP: Robert Stock (0–1) |
Attendance: 18,277 Umpires: HP – Andy Fletcher, 1B – Ángel Hernández, 2B – Maikol Tibabijo, 3B – Alejandro Pecero |
| World Baseball Classic QF | March 18 | United States  |
9–7 | Venezuela |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 19:00 ET | WP: David Bednar (1–0) Sv: Ryan Pressly (2) HR: Kyle Tucker (1), Trea Turner (2) |
Boxscore | LP: José Quijada (0–1) HR: Luis Arráez (1), Luis Arráez (2) |
Attendance: 35,792 Umpires: HP – Dan Bellino, 1B – Will Little, 2B – Atsushi Fukaya, 3B – Kun Young Park |
| Central American and Caribbean Games GS | June 24 | Puerto Rico |
3–4 | Venezuela |
Parque nacional de Pelota Saturnino Bengoa, El Salvador |
| 13:00 CST | Boxscore |
| Central American and Caribbean Games GS | June 25 | Venezuela |
5–2 | Dominican Republic |
Parque nacional de Pelota Saturnino Bengoa, El Salvador |
| 9:30 CST | Boxscore |
| Central American and Caribbean Games GS | June 27 | Curaçao  |
4–3 | Venezuela |
Parque nacional de Pelota Saturnino Bengoa, El Salvador |
| 14:30 CST | Boxscore |
| Central American and Caribbean Games GS | June 28 | Venezuela |
4–1 | Nicaragua |
Parque nacional de Pelota Saturnino Bengoa, El Salvador |
| 14:10 CST | Boxscore |
| Central American and Caribbean Games GS | June 30 | El Salvador  |
3–4 (F/8) | Venezuela |
Parque nacional de Pelota Saturnino Bengoa, El Salvador |
| 11:00 CST | Boxscore |
| Central American and Caribbean Games GS | June 30 | Mexico  |
11–1 (F/5) | Venezuela |
Parque nacional de Pelota Saturnino Bengoa, El Salvador |
| 17:00 CST | Boxscore |
| Central American and Caribbean Games GS | July 1 | Venezuela |
4–11 |  Cuba |
Parque nacional de Pelota Saturnino Bengoa, El Salvador |
| 10:00 CST | Boxscore |
| Central American and Caribbean Games 3rd | July 1 | Dominican Republic |
7–8 | Venezuela |
Parque nacional de Pelota Saturnino Bengoa, El Salvador |
| 13:30 CST | LP: Hansel Paulino |
Boxscore | WP: Eduardo Paredes |
| Pan American Games GS | October 19 | Venezuela |
1–3 |  Brazil |
Parque Bicentenario, Chile |
| 15:00 CLT | Boxscore |
| Pan American Games GS | October 22 | Cuba |
5–6 | Venezuela |
Parque Bicentenario, Chile |
| 15:00 CLT | Boxscore |
| Pan American Games GS | October 24 | Colombia |
6–2 | Venezuela |
Parque Bicentenario, Chile |
| 15:00 CLT | Boxscore |
| Pan American Games 7th | October 25 | Chile  |
0–7 | Venezuela |
Parque Bicentenario, Chile |
| 9:30 CLT | Boxscore |
2024
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 9 | Venezuela |
8–4 | Mexico |
Estadio Panamericano, Mexico |
| 20:00 CST | Boxscore | Attendance: 9,758 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 10 | Venezuela |
2–4 |  Panama |
Estadio Panamericano, Mexico |
| 13:00 CST | Boxscore | Attendance: 414 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 11 | United States |
3–5 | Venezuela |
Coloso del Pacífico, Mexico |
| 19:00 CST | Boxscore | Attendance: 7,018 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 13 | Puerto Rico |
2–5 | Venezuela |
Estadio Panamericano, Mexico |
| 13:00 CST | Boxscore | Attendance: 533 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 14 | Netherlands  |
0–11 (F/7) | Venezuela |
Estadio Panamericano, Mexico |
| 13:00 CST | Boxscore | Attendance: 239 |
| WBSC Premier12 SR | November 21 | Chinese Taipei |
0–2 | Venezuela |
Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 12:00 JST | Boxscore | Attendance: 6,790 |
| WBSC Premier12 SR | November 22 | Venezuela |
6–9 | Japan |
Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 19:00 JST | Boxscore | Attendance: 33,300 |
| WBSC Premier12 SR | November 23 | United States |
6–5 | Venezuela |
Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 12:00 JST | Boxscore | Attendance: 8,868 |
| WBSC Premier12 3rd | November 24 | United States |
6–1 | Venezuela |
Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 12:00 JST | Boxscore | Attendance: 8,386 |
2026
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 6 | Netherlands |
2–6 | Venezuela |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 12:00 EST | LP: Antwone Kelly |
Boxscore | WP: Ranger Suárez HR: Javier Sanoja |
Attendance: 19,542 Umpires: Shane Livensparger |
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 7 | Israel |
3–11 | Venezuela |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 19:00 EST | LP: Ben Simon HR: Harrison Bader, RJ Schreck |
Boxscore | WP: Enmanuel De Jesus HR: Luis Arráez (2), Eugenio Suárez |
Attendance: 22,573 Umpires: Gabe Morales |
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 9 | Venezuela |
4–0 | Nicaragua |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 19:00 EDT | WP: Yoendrys Gómez HR: Ronald Acuña Jr. |
Boxscore | LP: Danilo Bermudez |
Attendance: 27,844 Umpires: Paul Clemons |
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 11 | Dominican Republic |
7–5 | Venezuela |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 20:00 EDT | WP: Sandy Alcántara Sv: Elvis Alvarado HR: Juan Soto, Ketel Marte, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatís Jr. |
Boxscore | LP: Eduardo Rodríguez |
Attendance: 36,230 Umpires: Gabe Morales |
| World Baseball Classic QF | March 14 | Venezuela |
8–5 | Japan |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 20:00 EDT | WP: Enmanuel De Jesus Sv: Daniel Palencia HR: Ronald Acuña Jr., Maikel García, Wilyer Abreu |
Boxscore | LP: Hiromi Itoh HR: Shohei Ohtani, Shōta Morishita |
Attendance: 34,548 Umpires: Chris Segal |
| World Baseball Classic SF | March 16 | Venezuela |
4–2 |  Italy |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 20:00 EDT | WP: Ángel Zerpa Sv: Daniel Palencia HR: Eugenio Suárez |
Boxscore | LP: Michael Lorenzen |
Attendance: 35,382 Umpires: Jeremie Rehak |
| World Baseball Classic F | March 17 | Venezuela |
3–2 | United States |
loanDepot Park, United States |
| 20:00 EDT | WP: Andrés Machado Sv: Daniel Palencia HR: Wilyer Abreu |
Boxscore | LP: Garrett Whitlock HR: Bryce Harper |
Attendance: 36,190 Umpires: Dan Bellino |
Tournament record
World Baseball Classic
In June 2005, Major League Baseball announced the formation of the World Baseball Classic, a sixteen nation international competition to be held in March 2006 for the first time. The team Venezuela sent to the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic included Venezuelan players from Major League Baseball. A player is eligible to participate on a WBC national team if:
- The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents.
- The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport, then the player may be made eligible by WBCI upon petition by the player or team.
- The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.
- The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
- The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents.
- The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.[18]
| World Baseball Classic record | Qualification record | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | W | L | RS | RA | W | L | RS | RA | ||
| 2006 |
Quarterfinals | 7th | 3 | 3 | 22 | 20 | No qualifiers held | |||||
 2009 |
Third place |  3rd |
6 | 2 | 45 | 36 | No qualifiers held | |||||
| 2013 |
Group stage | 10th | 1 | 2 | 17 | 21 | Automatically qualified | |||||
| 2017 |
Quarterfinals | 8th | 2 | 5 | 28 | 55 | Automatically qualified | |||||
| 2023 |
Quarterfinals | 5th | 4 | 1 | 30 | 18 | Automatically qualified | |||||
| 2026 |
Champions | 1st | 6 | 1 | 41 | 21 | Automatically qualified | |||||
| Total | Semifinals | 6/6 | 24 | 14 | 183 | 171 | — | — | — | — | ||
Olympic Games
| Summer Olympics record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | W | L | % | RS | RA | Method | |||||
 1992 |
Did not qualify | Did not qualify | |||||||||||
| 1996 | |||||||||||||
 2000 | |||||||||||||
 2004 | |||||||||||||
 2008 | |||||||||||||
| 2020 | |||||||||||||
| 2028 |
Qualified | 2026 World Baseball Classic | |||||||||||
| Total | Preliminary | 1/7 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
WBSC Premier12
Baseball World Cup (1938–2011)
| Amateur World Series & Baseball World Cup record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | L | % | RS | RA | Org. |
 1938 |
Did not participate | IBF | |||||||
| 1939 | |||||||||
| 1940 |
Single-table tournament | 4th | 12 | 5 | 7 | .417 | |||
| 1941 |
Single-table tournament |  1st |
9 | 8 | 1 | .889 | |||
| 1942 |
Single-table tournament |  3rd |
12 | 7 | 5 | .583 | |||
| 1943 |
Did not participated | ||||||||
| 1944 |
Single-table tournament | 1st |
12 | 9 | 3 | .750 | FIBA | ||
| 1945 |
Single-table tournament | 1st |
10 | 10 | 0 | 1.000 | |||
| 1947 |
Single-table tournament | 5th | 8 | 5 | 3 | .625 | |||
| 1948 |
Did not participated | ||||||||
| 1950 |
Single-table tournament | 3rd |
11 | 9 | 2 | .818 | |||
| 1951 |
Single-table tournament |  2nd |
13 | 11 | 2 | .846 | |||
| 1952 |
Single-table tournament | 6th | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | |||
| 1953 |
Single-table tournament | 2nd |
10 | 9 | 1 | .900 | |||
 1961 |
Single-table tournament | 3rd |
6 | 6 | 3 | .667 | |||
| 1965 |
Did not participated | ||||||||
| 1969 |
Single-table tournament | 4th | 10 | 7 | 3 | .700 | |||
| 1970 |
Single-table tournament | 5th | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | |||
| 1971 |
Did not participated | ||||||||
| 1972 | |||||||||
| 1973 |
Single-table tournament | 3rd |
14 | 10 | 4 | .714 | |||
| 1973 |
Did not participated | FEMBA | |||||||
| 1974 | |||||||||
| 1976 |
AINBA | ||||||||
| 1978 | |||||||||
| 1980 |
Single-table tournament | 7th | 11 | 4 | 7 | .364 | |||
 1982 |
Did not participated | IBAF | |||||||
| 1984 | |||||||||
| 1986 |
Single-table tournament | 7th | 11 | 5 | 6 | .455 | 63 | 73 | |
| 1988 |
Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 1990 |
Group stage | 12th | 8 | 1 | 7 | .125 | 33 | 63 | |
| 1994 |
Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 1998 | |||||||||
 2001 | |||||||||
| 2003 | |||||||||
| 2005 | |||||||||
| 2007 |
Group stage | 12th | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | 33 | 37 | |
| 2009 |
7th place game | 7th | 15 | 9 | 6 | .600 | 70 | 58 | |
| 2011 |
7th place game | 7th | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | 52 | 91 | |
| Total | 3 Titles | 24/38 | 249 | 177 | 80 | .689 | — | — | |
Pan American Games
|
Bolivarian Games
U-23 Baseball World Cup
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See also
