The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced the postponement of the WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup to 2023. The event, originally set to take place from 22-30 October, 2022, in Parana, Argentina, was previously delayed due to various reasons.
The bidding process to host the inaugural U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup has been re-opened, with all nations (including Argentina) having the opportunity to send their proposal to the WBSC to organise the global event. The host and new dates of the tournament will be announced at a later time.
With the postponement of the event, the WBSC Softball Division recommended to expand the age eligibility, allowing all players that would have been eligible to participate in 2022 to represent their country in the 2023 tournament - which the WBSC Executive Board approved.
The 11 teams qualified to battle For the Title of World Champion in this age-category remain as follows:
- Africa (1): No. 11 South Africa
- Americas (4): No. 1 Argentina, No. 8 Mexico, No. 9 Venezuela and No. 13 Guatemala
- Asia (2): No. 2 Japan and No. 15 Singapore
- Europe (2): No. 5 Czech Republic and No. 19 Israel
- Oceania (2): No. 4 Australia and No. 6 New Zealand
The wild card for this competition is still to be awarded by the WBSC.
The WBSC U-23 Men's Softball World Cup, created to bridge the gap between the U-18 Men's Softball World Cup and the senior national teams, completes the portfolio of WBSC Softball World Cups. The other newly created global event, the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup, will have its inaugural edition in Tokyo, Japan, from 19-30 October 2023.
