The 2026 World Baseball Classic final is upon us.
Team USA punched its ticket Sunday night with a win over the Dominican Republic and will face Venezuela, which defeated Italy on Monday night. The U.S. and Venezuela will match up in the WBC championship on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Before the U.S. faces Venezuela, here's everything you need to know about the final.
World Baseball Classic Championship Game: Venezuela at United States
When and where: 8 p.m. ET Tuesday at loanDepot park in Miami.
How you can watch: The World Baseball Classic championship game will air live on FOX.
How you can listen: There is a free English-language audio stream available for every Classic game.
Who's going to pitch?: Mets righty Nolan McLean will get the starting nod against Venezuela. The 24-year-old allowed three earned runs in three innings vs. Italy in pool play, but he had a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings down the stretch for the Mets last season.
For Venezuela, left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez was announced as the starter. In his lone appearance in this tournament against the Dominican Republic in Venezuela’s final game in pool play, Rodriguez allowed three runs in 2 2/3 innings, allowing a pair of home runs to Juan Soto and Ketel Marte.
How they got here: Team USA defeated the Dominican Republic, 2-1, on Sunday to advance to its third straight Classic final. It was a tense game in which every run came via a home run. Gunnar Henderson hit a game-tying homer to lead off the third inning, then Roman Anthony clubbed a go-ahead solo shot two batters later. The lone run for the D.R. came via a Junior Caminero homer in the second. Righty Paul Skenes tossed 4 2/3 innings for the U.S., scattering six hits and allowing just the one run, before five relievers held the D.R. to just two hits the rest of the game and stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth.
Venezuela beat Italy 4-2 in a semifinals thriller on Monday, using a three-run seventh inning to take the lead and secure a second straight comeback win. Ronald Acuña Jr. tied it in the seventh inning with an RBI infield single before Maikel Garcia gave the Venezuelans the lead for good with a go-ahead RBI single. After starter Keider Montero allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings, Venezuela's bullpen tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings. In its previous game in the quarterfinals against Japan, Venezuela also used a dramatic comeback to overtake the reigning WBC champions.
Because the teams entered the finals with the same 5-1 record, home-field advantage was determined by a coin flip, which went in favor to the United States.
What’s at stake: The winner will be crowned the 2026 World Baseball Classic champion. Team USA won its only WBC championship in 2017, when it defeated Puerto Rico, 8-0, in the title game. Meanwhile, this will be Venezuela's first WBC title game appearance.
Matchup history: These two squads have met five times in Classic play, with the U.S. holding a 3-2 advantage. Their first meeting came in 2009 pool play, when the U.S. won a 15-6 blowout that included homers from Kevin Youkilis, Adam Dunn and Ryan Braun. Their last meeting came in the 2023 quarterfinal, which the U.S. won 9-7 thanks to a go-ahead grand slam from Trea Turner.