Baseball5 World Cup: 12 teams, one dream
A total of 12 teams will be chasing the sole dream of becoming the first WBSC Baseball5 world champion when the inaugural WBSC Baseball5 World Cup takes place from 7-13 November in the Zocalo, Mexico City in Mexico.
Here's a breakdown of each of the teams, giving you a flavour of their credentials and passion for the WBSC's fastest growing discipline.
Group A
Cuba: This country has known about Baseball5 for a long time. Kids all over the country played “Cuatro Esquinas” daily, being Cuba one of the places where this discipline was born.
Briandy Molina is one of the most recognizable Baseball5 faces and as one of the best players in the world, he is someone who has helped spread the Baseball5 word around the world.
Meet him in this episode of The Global Game, the WBSC Official Podcast.
Hong Kong: Maybe Hong Kong is not a common name for baseball fans, but this federation founded in 1993 has become a regular in Women's Baseball World Cups participating in the 2014, 2016 and 2018 editions.
Hong Kong conducted a tryout to select their national team for this tournament, where they want to “shine” on the international stage.
Japan: You can expect big things from Japan in any tournament. They won the silver medal at the Asia Cup where they claimed their spot for the Baseball5 World Cup.
The team is commanded by Ayako Rokkaku one of the most well-known Baseball5 faces in the world. Ayako is a baseball player and Baseball5 instructor that helps to grow the discipline in Japan and worldwide.
Meet her in this episode of The Global Game, the WBSC Official Podcast.
Lithuania: The European Championship runner-up will open the tournament against the hosts Mexico. For the Lithuanian team, this tournament goes beyond their performance on the field. It is also a great chance to promote this discipline in their country.
Nomeda Neverauskaitė and Lukas Pupininkas had experience in WBSC tournaments after being part of the Lithuanian team at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup in 2014.
Mexico: Mexico is a common name in every WBSC Baseball or Softball event, and the first Baseball5 World Cup wouldn’t be an exception. As a host, Mexico will open the tournament against Lithuania, and the goal clearly will be the world title.
At the helm of the Mexico Baseball5 roster for this tournament is the experienced Nancy Prieto, who also coaches the Softball National Team.
South Africa: After winning the Baseball5 African Championship and continuing their summer streak of participating in every single Baseball World Cup, South Africa will participate in the Baseball5 World Cup representing the biggest baseball force in Africa.
South Africa already presented their team and you know a lot about every team member in this post.
Chinese Taipei: One of the biggest forces in Baseball and Softball won the Asian Championship and will be looking to keep their streak alive of medalling in every WBSC tournament this year.
For Chinese Taipei, this tournament represents a chance to finally claim a World Champion title after finishing second at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup and third in the U-12, U-15 and U-23 Baseball World Cups.
France: The Baseball5 Europen Champions will participate in their second WBSC tournament this year after finishing 11th at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup. It's been a long wait for France after they qualified for this tournament in 2020.
France seems ready after announcing their roster for the World Cup where they look to have a great performance that helps more kids to fall in love with this discipline.
Kenya: The African runner-up is one of the teams that invested the most time in preparation. After locking in their spot at the Baseball5 World Cup, the National Federation started a training camp in August with high hopes for this tournament.
This is a national milestone for Kenya, and has gathered plenty of media attention on home soil as you can see with this report on national TV.
Korea: Another powerhouse will be part of Group B. Korea reached their spot in this World Cup after finished third in the Asian Championship and their most recent result was the silver medal at the U-23 Baseball World Cup.
For Korea, this is a new chance to capture a first World Champion title since 2008, and first WBSC title since the Premier12 in 2015. Everyone must count them among the contenders.
Tunisia: The African team was awarded with the Wild Card for this tournament and is undoubtedly one of the countries where Baseball5 is growing faster. It is the first time Tunisia is playing in a WBSC World Cup becoming the 79th nation/territory (the ninth from Africa) to feature in World Cup history.
Meet their roster for the tournament. Could this newcomer be one of the surprises in the Zocalo?
Venezuela: For Venezuela, Baseball5 is well known as Pelotica de Goma, a baseball variation that millions of people play in this Caribbean country. For Venezuela, this is the chance to prove they can reign on the discipline, which they say they invented.
The National Federation ran a National Tournament a few weeks ago and will select the national team representing the country in Mexico from that tournament.
