Starting on Sunday (24 April), the Argentine city of Parana will host the 10-team Men’s Softball Pan American Championship, a qualifier for the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup 2022.
The continental tournament includes eight of the top 14 teams in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings, including reigning world champions and hosts Argentina, who are ranked second in the world.
The teams have been drawn into two groups:
- Group A: No. 8 Mexico, No. 11 Venezuela, No. 12 Guatemala, No. 14 Cuba and No. 35 Dominican Republic.
- Group B: No. 2 Argentina, No. 6 Canada, No. 7 USA, No. 37 Colombia and Puerto Rico.
Group A includes the defending Americas champions Venezuela, who claimed the continental title in Santo Domingo 2017, defeating Argentina in the final. Group B features the three nations from the Americas that have won a world championship: USA (5), Canada (4) and Argentina (1).
WBSC Americas Softball also announced the game schedule of the group stage. The top three teams of each group will advance to the Super Round. The final will be played on Saturday, 30 April.
The tournament will be staged at Nafaldo Cargnel Stadium, which will also host the WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup later this year. The stadium, located in Parana, hosted of the Junior Men’s Softball World Championship 2012.
The top four nations in the final standings will earn a berth in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup 2022, to be played at Rosedal Park in Auckland, New Zealand, from 26 November to 4 December. Five teams have already qualified for the Softball World Cup: No. 3 Australia, No. 4 Czech Republic, No. 5 New Zealand, No. 9 Denmark and No. 10 South Africa.
The tournament also serves as a qualifier for the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 and the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
