July 7, 2022

Baseball Canada

OTTAWA, Ont. - The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is back!

World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) announced on Thursday the dates, venues and pools for the fifth installment of the WBC that will take place from March 8 to 21, 2023.

Canada will be in Pool C in Arizona along with defending champion USA, Colombia, Mexico and a to be determined team with games taking place at Chase Field from March 11 to 15.

WBCI also announced that the event will expand from 16 to 20 teams in 2023 with all 16 participating teams from the last WBC in 2017 invited while the other four countries will be determined at qualifying tournaments in Regensburg, Germany and Panama City, Panama this fall.

Pool play will see five teams compete in four pools with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the quarterfinals before semifinals and championship contests take place in Miami, Fla., from March 19 to 21.

Canada holds a 3-8 record all-time over four World Baseball Classic events with wins over South Africa (’06), the United States (’06) and Mexico (’13), while suffering losses to Columbia (’17), the Dominican Republic (’17), Mexico (’06), the United States (’09, ’13, ‘17) and Italy (’09 & ’13).

Canada will be looking to advance past pool play in Arizona for the first time in WBC history.