Rosters announced for the 2026 World Baseball Classic

World Baseball Classic, Inc. today announced the final rosters submitted by the 20 baseball federations participating in the 2026 World Baseball Classic before the event’s February 3^rd deadline. The rosters were officially unveiled earlier this evening on MLB Network. Each roster includes up to 30 active players, including at least 14 pitchers and two catchers.

Rosters for the sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic are comprised by many elite players from the ranks of Major League Baseball (MLB), Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and other distinguished leagues from Asia, Latin America, Europe and Australia.

ROSTER HIGHLIGHTS

• The 20 tournament rosters feature an all-time high of 78 MLB All-Stars, including 36 players who were 2025 All-Stars, along with 306 MLB-affiliated players, with 190 of those on MLB 40-man rosters.

• As Samurai Japan aims for its second consecutive and tournament-best fourth overall crown, its roster includes six Most Valuable Players of NPB: outfielder Kensuke Kondo, infielder Munetaka Murakami, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, infielder Teruaki Sato, pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Team Japan also has three recipients of the NPB’s Sawamura Award for its top pitcher, with Hiromi Itoh joining Sugano and Yamamoto.

• This is the first time in World Baseball Classic history that all four reigning recipients of MLB’s Most Valuable Player Award (Team USA’s Aaron Judge and Team Japan’s Shohei Ohtani) and Cy Young Award (Team USA’s Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal) are participating in the tournament. The only other occurrence of having both reigning MVPs was in the inaugural 2006 tournament, when both Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez participated. In total, there are six MLB MVPs on the rosters: Ohtani; Ronald Acuña Jr. of Team Venezuela; and Judge is joined on Team USA by Paul Goldschmidt, Bryce Harper and Clayton Kershaw.

• Team Korea has two KBO MVPs: outfielder Jung Hoo Lee and infielder Do-Yeong Kim.

• Team USA has the most career MLB All-Stars on its roster with 22, with 65 selections total. Next up are the Dominican Republic with 16 MLB All-Stars (39 total selections), led by Manny Machado, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto; Venezuela with 12 MLB All-Stars (32 selections); and Teams Puerto Rico and Mexico with six MLB All-Stars apiece (15 selections for Puerto Rico and nine for Mexico).

• Team USA and Team Dominican Republic each enter this World Baseball Classic with its most decorated roster ever (based on bWAR from the previous MLB season). Team USA has the highest bWAR of any squad in World Baseball Classic history, while Team DR’s roster has the highest non-Team USA total in event history, even surpassing their total entering their undefeated 2013 championship run.

• In his third career World Baseball Classic, eight-time MLB All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado will make his debut for Team Puerto Rico. Arenado was a part of Team USA’s 2017 championship squad, and he returned to their 2023 roster. Arenado’s fellow Puerto Rico All-Stars are infielder Willi Castro, outfielder Heliot Ramos, and pitchers Edwin Díaz, Jorge López and Seth Lugo.

• Three World Series Most Valuable Players are on World Baseball Classic rosters: Jeremy Peña of Team DR, Salvador Perez of Team Venezuela, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of Team Japan.

• There are seven MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects slated to play in the World Baseball Classic: pitcher Nolan McLean (#6) of Team USA; infielder Travis Bazzana (#20) of Team Australia; outfielder Owen Caissie (#42) of Team Canada; infielder Michael Arroyo (#67) of Team Colombia; catcher Harry Ford (#71) of Team Great Britain; Elmer Rodríguez (#82) of Team Puerto Rico; and catcher Leonardo Bernal (#98) of Team Panama. In addition, there are 30 players who are Top 30 prospects with their MLB Club, per MLB Pipeline.

• The 2026 event will mark the fifth career World Baseball Classic for Team Cuba outfielder Alfredo Despaigne, the 39-year-old slugger who is the tournament’s all-time home run leader with seven and has a record four MVP awards in the Cuban Serie Nacional; and Team Netherlands pitcher Shairon Martis, the 38-year-old who threw the only no-hitter in World Baseball Classic history in the inaugural 2006 tournament. Despaigne and Martis are on track to tie Miguel Cabrera (Team Venezuela) and Oliver Pérez (Team Mexico) as the only players in event history to participate in five career World Baseball Classics.

• Players slated to play in their fourth career World Baseball Classic include infielder/outfielder Tim Kennelly and pitcher Warwick Saupold of Team Australia; Team Brazil pitcher Tiago Da Silva, who played for Team Italy three times previously; pitcher Phillippe Aumont of Team Canada; infielder Xander Bogaerts, infielder Sharlon Schoop and pitcher J.C. Sulbaran of Team Netherlands; outfielder Eddie Rosario of Team Puerto Rico; and catcher Salvador Perez of Team Venezuela.

• Travis Bazzana of Team Australia and Team USA’s Bryce Harper and Paul Skenes would join the six previous tournament participants who were the number one overall selections in the MLB Draft. Previous top picks who played in the event are Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones and Joe Mauer, along with Adrián González, Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Correa. Bazzana will be part of a roster that has five Australian Baseball League MVPs: catcher Alex Hall, infielder/outfielder Tim Kennelly, outfielder Aaron Whitefield, and twin-brother pitchers Alex and Lachlan Wells.

• The five oldest players in the 2026 World Baseball Classic will be infielder Alexei Ramírez (age 44) of Team Cuba; pitcher Kyung-Eun Noh (41) of Team Korea; pitcher Tiago Da Silva (40) of Team Brazil; pitcher Adam Ottavino (40) of Team Italy; and pitcher Martin Schneider (40) of Team Czechia.

• The youngest player in the 2026 World Baseball Classic will be Team Brazil’s Joseph Contreras, a Vanderbilt commit who is the 17-year-old son of Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series Champion pitcher José Contreras. Joseph and his teammate Pietro Albanez, also 17, could join the only four previous pitchers under 18 who appeared in a main tournament game (previous: Brazil’s Daniel Missaki, age 16 in 2013; South Africa’s Hein Robb, age 16, and Dylan Lindsay, age 17, in 2009; and Jared Elario, age 17 in 2006).

• There will be seven players under age 20 in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, all of whom had not been born when the inaugural 2006 tournament was staged: Brazil teammates Contreras and Albanez (both age 17) along with their catcher, Enzo Hayashida (18); pitcher Jaitoine Kelly (18) of Netherlands; outfielder Max Prejda (18) of Team Czechia; utilityman Max Durrington (19) of Team Australia, the son of 2006 Team Australia infielder Trent Durrington; and pitcher Woo-Joo Jeong (19) of Team Korea.

• Team Mexico, which reached the Semifinals in 2023, will bring back 12 players from its run three years ago. Mexico’s squad also features six All-Stars, including Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda, Seattle’s Randy Arozarena and Andrés Muñoz, Boston’s Jarren Duran, Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk, and Philadelphia’s Taijuan Walker.

• Brothers and former Cleveland teammates Bo and Josh Naylor will reunite on Team Canada for first time with each participating in their second World Baseball Classic. Bo, who is currently on the Guardians, will play for a second consecutive time while Josh, a member of the Seattle Mariners, will return for the first time since 2017.

• Veteran All-Star pitchers Jose Quintana and Julio Teheran will lead Team Colombia, which carries 21 players with previous World Baseball Classic experience. Quintana will play in his third consecutive World Baseball Classic while Teheran returns after appearing in 2017.

• New York Yankees All-Star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. is scheduled to make his World Baseball Classic debut joining a Great Britain roster which brings back 13 players from its 2023 squad, including catcher Harry Ford of the Nationals.

• All-Star hurler Aaron Nola of the Phillies will take part in his first World Baseball Classic, joining Team Italy, which is powered by Kansas City youngsters Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone.

• Veteran MLB players Harrison Bader and Tommy Kahnle will suit up for Israel in their respective tournament debuts, joining 10 returning players to the roster, including Baltimore’s Dean Kremer and Pittsburgh’s Spencer Horwitz.

• Mark Vientos of the Mets will make his tournament debut and team with 13 returning players from Team Nicaragua’s 2023 World Baseball Classic squad.

• Thirty-nine year-old right-hander Paolo Espino will return to Team Panama for his third appearance and first since 2009 to join group of 13 returning players led by Miguel Amaya of the Cubs, José Caballero of the Yankees and Iván Herrera of the Cardinals.

• By team, the oldest average ages are Team Colombia (29.9) and Team USA (29.7). The youngest average ages are Team Chinese Taipei (26.7) and Team Brazil (26.9).

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

The 2026 World Baseball Classic will be played from March 5^th-17^th, featuring 20 teams representing nations and territories from around the world. The tournament comprises 16 teams that finished in the top four of their respective first-round pools in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, alongside four teams that earned their spots through the 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. Round One will take place across four pools in San Juan, Houston, Tokyo, and Miami:

POOL A (San Juan)

Canada
Colombia
Cuba
Panama
Costa Rica

POOL B (Houston)

Brazil
Great Britain
Italy
Mexico
United States

POOL C (Tokyo)

Australia
Chinese Taipei
Czechia
Japan
Korea

POOL (D) Miami

Dominican Republic
Israel
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Venezuela

The Quarterfinals in Houston and Miami will be played on Friday, March 13^th and Saturday, March 14^th. Houston’s Daikin Park will host the teams advancing from Pool A and Pool B, while Miami’s loanDepot park hosts the teams advancing from Pool C and Pool D. If Team USA advances to the Quarterfinal round in Houston, their game will be played on Friday, March 13^th regardless of whether they are the Pool B winner or runner-up. Similarly, if Samurai Japan advances to the Quarterfinal round in Miami, their game will take place on Saturday, March 14^th regardless of whether they are the Pool C winner or runner-up.

The Championship Round in Miami will begin on Sunday, March 15^th with the first of two Semifinal matchups while the second Semifinal takes place on Monday, March 16^th. The Championship Game will be played on Tuesday, March 17^th. Fans can visit worldbaseballclassic.com/tickets to view ticket availability and other tournament information.

The World Baseball Classic is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) as the sport’s official National Team World Championship.