When the home plate umpire shouts "play ball" at 20:00 on Monday to start the first game in the inaugural WBSC Baseball5 World Cup between hosts Mexico and European vice champions Lithuania, it will mark a key moment in the burgeoning life of the World Baseball Softball Confederation's newest discipline.
The WBSC has been building towards this moment since first launching Baseball5 as an international event in 2017. Since then, it has been included in the Youth Olympic Games 2026 as well as multiple international multisport events and now fans at El Zocalo in Mexico City will have the chance to witness the moment when 12 teams begin the pursuit of a dream to become the first ever Baseball5 World Champions.
And there could be no better setting for this momentous occasion. The famous and historic El Zócalo in the heart of Mexico City will host 50 games across seven days from 7-13 November.
The Opening Round sees the teams divided into two groups - Cuba, Hong Kong, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico and South Africa in Group A and France, Kenya, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Tunisia and Venezuela in Group B. The top three teams of each group will then advance to the Super Round before the top four teams are determined to playoff for the medals.
To know more about the participants you can click here.
As a novelty for this tournament, the High5 Award will be presented to a Baseball5 fan, national federation or player who has promoted the Baseball5 World Cup and the sport of Baseball5 through powerful storytelling. NFT Awards will be given to the winner while a digital trophy will also be awarded to the champions in addition to the customary silverware and medals.
Baseball5 is played in games featuring a series of best-of-three matches. Every match consists of five innings while the whole tournament will be available on multiple platforms. You can watch it live and for free on the WBSC’s platforms.
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