Nicaragua will host the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier from 24 to 30 November at the Soberania National Stadium in Managua and the brand-new Roberto Clemente Stadium in Masaya, 26.2 kilometres (or 16.3 miles) southeast of the capital.
The 12 participants will split into two groups.
World No. 3 Mexico, No. 9 Dominican Republic, No. 11 Puerto Rico, No. 20 Nicaragua, No. 30 Argentina and No. 42 Honduras will play in Group A.
Group B will include No. 6 Venezuela, No. 8 Cuba, No. 12 Panama, No. 15 Colombia, No. 29 Curaçao and No. 55 Costa Rica.
Nicaragua will host Puerto Rico in Masaya for the tournament's opener at 19:00 (local time) on Friday, 24 November. The game will inaugurate the Roberto Clemente Stadium and represent a head-to-head between two favourites for a spot in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. Mexico and the Dominican Republic look like the leading contenders in Group A.
Venezuela look like the favourite in Group B with Cuba, Panama and Colombia also strong contenders.
The top two finishers of each group will earn a spot in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. The first-placed teams will play for the title, and the second-place teams will compete for third place on 30 November, the tournament's final day.
Initially built in 1948 and renamed various times, the Soberania Stadium was rebuilt in 2016 and named after Dennis Martinez, the first Nicaraguan-born Major League Baseball (MLB) player. It has a capacity of 15,000 seats.
The Roberto Clemente Stadium in Masaya is a 4,026-seat facility named after the MLB great who died in an aeroplane crash while delivering aid to the victims of the 1972 Managua earthquake.
China will host the V WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup at the Shaoxing Baseball Softball Sports Culture Center, the baseball/softball venue for the 19th Asian Games. It will be the first-ever baseball World Cup hosted by mainland China. The dates will be announced soon.
Three teams have already qualified:
Africa (1)
Asia (3) BFA Asian Baseball Championship is scheduled from 3 to 10 December in Taipei City.
Americas (4)
Europe (2) No. 7 Netherlands and No. 18 Great Britain
Oceania (1) No. 11 Australia
Wild Card (1)
World No. 1 Japan is the defending U-23 World Champion.
