WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup: 42 years of history
With three days to go to the start of the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup, let’s take a look at the history of the event, the oldest international youth men’s softball world championship.
Starting on Saturday, and continuing until 19 November, Hermosillo, Mexico will host the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup. This is the XIV edition of this youth event (including the Junior Men’s Softball World Championship as well).
After the merger between the International Softball Federation (ISF) and the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), giving birth to the WBSC, all softball World Championships were rebranded, changing their name, logo and (in this case) the age bracket. The former Junior Men’s Softball World Championship changed its age eligibility, going from U-19 to U-18, and was renamed as the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup starting in 2020 in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
The first edition of the Junior Men’s Softball World Championship was played in 1981 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with five participating teams. The groundbreaking event, as well as the second edition in 1985, took place along with the Junior Women’s Softball World Championship. Five teams participated in the maiden World Championship. Japan defeated USA in the final to claim the first-ever title, while Mexico claimed the bronze medal. Canada was fourth and Argentina fifth.
These five pioneer nations, with some of the most appearances in the tournament, will compete in Hermosillo next week. Canada, Japan and USA are the only three nations to have featured in all 13 previous tournaments, while Argentina and Mexico (along with New Zealand) have played in 12 events.
The first seven editions of the tournament were played on a four-year cycle from 1981 to 2005, while the seventh was moved to 2008 to better accommodate the event to the overall World Cup calendar, when the senior World Cups started to be played every two years. The Junior Men’s Softball World Championship also adopted a two-year cycle after 2012.
A history of champions
The most successful nation in the history of the tournament is Australia, which has won five titles in 10 appearances, including a four-peat in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2008. They won again in Prince Albert in 2018, and went back to the World Championship Final in 2020, losing against Japan in Palmerston North.
However, the defending champions Japan have won more medals than any other country. They have climbed the podium in 11 of their 13 appearances, including three titles in 1981, 2016 and 2020.
The Australian and Japanese representative teams have played the last two World Cup finals, with the Oceania boys taking the title in 2018 and the Asians winning it all in 2020.
The other three nations with a World Title at their name are New Zealand (back to back in 1985 and 1989), Argentina (consecutive titles in 2012 and 2014) and Canada (1993).
USA (silvers in 1981 and 1985), Mexico (bronze in 1981) and Czechia (bronze in 2020) complete the list of medallists, which features teams from the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
You can see the U-18 Men's Softball World Cup Historic Results here.
In 13 editions of the tournament, the number of participating teams has grown from the five pioneer nations in 1981 to 22, including teams from the five Olympic continents.
We will have one debutant in Hermosillo, Colombia will become the 23rd country to enter this competition.
