Venezuela captured the 2026 World Baseball Classic title Tuesday night in Miami, the country’s first championship in the tournament. Team USA, meanwhile, was the runner-up for the second time in a row. The Americans fell short, 3-2, in the title game as their bats went cold late in the tournament. Bryce Harper hit a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s title game, but Eugenio Suárez answered with an RBI double in the ninth inning to plate the winning run for Venezuela.
Venezuela took out reigning champion Japan and underdog Italy in the knockout stage before beating Team USA.
The 2026 installment was the sixth iteration of the World Baseball Classic, and Venezuela is fourth different country to win the competition. Japan has won three titles, in 2006, 2009 and 2023. The Dominican Republic won in 2013, and Team USA’s only WBC championship remains the 2017 title.
List of World Baseball Classic winners
2006
- Winner: Japan
- Runner-up: Cuba
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka
Getty Images
2009
- Winner: Japan
- Runner-up: South Korea
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka
2013
- Winner: Dominican Republic
- Runner-up: Puerto Rico
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Robinson Canó
Getty Images
2017
- Winner: United States
- Runner-up: Puerto Rico
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Marcus Stroman
2023
- Winner: Japan
- Runner-up: United States
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Shohei Ohtani
2026
- Winner: Venezuela
- Runner-up: United States
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Maikel Garcia
|
Japan |
3 (2006, 2009, 2023) |
|
Dominican Republic |
1 (2013) |
|
United States |
1 (2017) |
| Venezuela | 1 (2026) |
