Colombia, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Venezuela qualify for WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024

World No. 13 Colombia, No. 20 Nicaragua, No. 12 Puerto Rico and No. 6 Venezuela will represent the Americas at the V WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup.

Colombia (5-0) dominated Group B while Nicaragua (4-0) finished on top of Group A of the Pan American qualifying tournament in Nicaragua. They will play for the Pan American U-23 title on Thursday, 30 November, at 6:05 pm (local time) at the National Soberania Stadium in Managua.

Puerto Rico finished second in the five-team Group A with a 3-1 record.

After Day 3, Puerto Rico and Mexico were tied with a 2-1 record but Mexico lost to Nicaragua (6-2), while Puerto Rico overcame the Dominican Republic (13-7).

Puerto Rico set the tone, scoring nine in a first at-bat highlighted by shortstop Jankel Ortiz's three-run homer.

Left-handed reliever Jeremy Rivera pitched 2.1 innings for the win.

Venezuela emerged from a three-way tie with Cuba and Panama in the six-team Group B.

Cuba and Venezuela entered the final round-robin day with a 3-1 record. Venezuela lost to Colombia, 3-1, and Cuba was outslugged by Panama, 15-11. Designated hitter Erasmo Caballero (3-for-4, home run and five RBIs) and first baseman Julio Gonzalez (3-for-4, home run and four RBIs) led Panama's offence.

Cuba's win against Venezuela (10-5) and Venezuela's win against Panama (13-1) in the previous days set up the three-way tie. Allowing 15 runs in the last game proved fatal to Cuba in the Team Quality Balance (TQB) calculations.

China will host the V WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup at the Shaoxing Baseball Softball Sports Culture Center. The WBSC will announce the competition's dates soon.

Seven teams have qualified to date.

Africa (1):
Asia (3): BFA Asian Baseball Championship is scheduled from 3 to 10 December in Taipei City.
Americas (4): No. 6 Venezuela, No. 12 Puerto Rico, No. 13 Colombia, No. 20 Nicaragua
Europe (2): No. 7 Netherlands and No. 18 Great Britain
Oceania (1): No. 11 Australia
Wild Card (1):

World No. 1 Japan is the defending U-23 World Champion.