09/06/2022 1 Minute Read

Venezuela awarded Wild Card to WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup 2022

Venezuela, which became the 10th team confirmed for the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup, just missed out on a ticket to the World Cup at the Americas Qualifier after finishing in fifth place behind fourth-place USA.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Executive Board has awarded world No. 9 Venezuela a wild card to the next Men’s Softball World Cup, to be played in Auckland, New Zealand, from 26 November to 4 December.

Venezuela is the 10th team to be confirmed for the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup. No. 1 Argentina, No. 3 Canada, No. 7 USA, and No. 12 Cuba qualified from the Americas Qualifier; No. 5 Czech Republic and No. 10 Denmark advanced from the European continent and No. 11 South Africa claimed its ticket to the World Cup by winning the Africa Qualifier in January. No. 4 Australia and host/No. 6 New Zealand will represent Oceania.

The Venezuelan squad just missed out on a ticket to the World Cup at the Americas Qualifier after finishing in fifth place behind fourth-place USA.

It will be Venezuela’s 10th appearance in the premier men’s international softball tournament. They were one of 11 participating teams at the inaugural Men’s Softball World Cup in 1966, finishing in fifth place. However, Venezuela had to wait 30 years for their second participation in Midland, USA in 1996. Since then, Venezuela has participated in every edition of the Men’s Softball World Cup with a best finish of second place in the 2013 edition in Auckland.

The South Americans have participated in two of the three previous World Cups played in New Zealand. In Christchurch 2004 they recorded their lowest finish (11^th place) across their previous nine appearances. However, at Auckland 2013 they grabbed the silver medal, losing to New Zealand, 4-1, in the final match. Venezuela repeated as a medallist two years later, with a bronze medal at Saskatoon 2015.