Women's, Men's Softball World Rankings to qualify six national teams for The World Games Chengdu 2025

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Executive Board, on Saturday, confirmed the qualification system for The World Games Chengdu 2025 softball competitions, both for women and men. The WBSC Executive Board approved the qualification system during their meeting this past weekend at WBSC's headquarters in Pully, Switzerland.

A total of eight teams will compete in each discipline. The top six teams in the WBSC Women's and Men's Softball World Rankings at 31st December 2024 will earn an automatic berth in The World Games 2025. As hosts of the competition, China get an automatic spot for both disciplines. The final berth will be awarded by WBSC as a wild card, no later than 31 January, 2025.

The World Games 2025 will be hosted in Chengdu, China, a city of 20 million people located in the south-west of the country. The multi-sports competition will take place from 7 to 17 August. 

In May this year, the International World Games Association (IWGA) announced that both men’s and women’s softball were confirmed as medal disciplines for The World Games 2025. The World Games are a multi-sport event staged every four years by the IWGA under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. 

Softball proved to be one of the most successful sports at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, with the women’s softball competition drawing a record-setting attendance for the entire tournament and a single event/game, while also boasting one of the youngest average ages for athletes at 25 years old.

The WBSC World Rankings measure national team performance from the U-12 to the top level in WBSC-sanctioned international competitions.