Schedule unveiled for WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier to Tokyo Olympics

The World Baseball Softball Confederation today released the official game schedule for the 22-26 June WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier in Puebla, Mexico, where the sixth and final berth to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic baseball event will be awarded.

The five-game tournament will open with a round-robin (22-24 June), followed by one semifinal (25 June) game and the final (26 June). The winner of the round-robin will advance directly to the final, while the second- and third-place teams will compete in the semifinal.

“The Tokyo 2020 baseball picture is five games from being completed after a hard-fought and challenging road that saw international baseball shut down for more than a year and a half,” WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said. “The team that wins in Puebla will complete the six-team field for the historic return of Olympic baseball, which promises to be one of the most spectacular and followed sporting events of the Tokyo 2020 Games.”

Three national teams -- world No. 8 Venezuela, No. 9 Netherlands and No. 10 Dominican Republic -- will compete in the Olympic qualifier at Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán, home of Mexican Baseball League’s Pericos de Puebla.

Game Schedule*

Tue, 22 June, 5 pm: Dominican Republic at Venezuela
Wed, 23 June, 5 pm: Venezuela at Netherlands
Thu, 24 June, 5 pm: Netherlands at Dominican Republic
Fri, 25 June, 5 pm: Semifinal (3rd Place at 2nd Place)
Sat, 26 June, 1 pm: Final (Semifinal winner at 1st Place of Round Robin)
*All times local

Road to Tokyo

The Netherlands took second place in the September 2019 WBSC Baseball Europe/Africa Qualifier to qualify for the final Olympic qualifier, while the Dominican Republic and Venezuela were the second- and third-place finishers of the recent WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier.

Five nations have qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic baseball event, including host Japan, Israel, Korea, Mexico and USA.