Canada to participate in 2021 World Baseball Classic

Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, whose parents were born in Canada, played for the Canadian squad at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Photo: Baseball Canada

February 25, 2020

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

OTTAWA - World Baseball Classic Inc. announced today dates, host venues and 16 participating nations for the 2021 World Baseball Classic including Canada among them.

The 2021 event will expand from 16 teams to 20 with qualifiers slated for March to select the four additional nations that will join the 16 countries who participated in the 2017 tournament. Due to the expansion Canada won’t have to qualify after going winless in Miami.

Four pools of five teams will begin the 2021 World Baseball Classic for round-robin play with the top two seeds in each pool advancing to the quarterfinal round before four teams move on to the Championship Round.

Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium and Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium in Taiwan will host Pool A from March 9 to 13 while Pool B will be hosted at the Tokyo Dome in Japan which will also stage quarterfinals on March 16 and 17.

Chase Field in Phoenix and Marlins Park in Miami will play host to Pools C (March 13 to 17) and D (March 14 to 18) respectively while quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be played at Marlins Park from March 19 to 23.

Canada has participated in each of the first four World Baseball Classics including the inaugural event in 2006 and subsequent editions in 2009, 2013 and 2017.

For more: worldbaseballclassic.com