World Baseball Classic reveals host cities, pools, dates for 2023 event originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The United States' road to a repeat in the World Baseball Classic will begin in Phoenix.
The World Baseball Classic on Thursday announced the venues, pools and dates for the fifth installment of the tournament scheduled for March of 2023.
The United States, the event's defending champion, is in Pool C along with Canada, Colombia and Mexico. Pool play for those teams runs from March 11-15 at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Meanwhile, 2017 tournament runner-up Puerto Rico will play its opening games in Miami at loanDepot park, home of the Marlins, as part of Pool D. Israel, Puerto Rico and Venezuela are also in Pool D.
The two other host venues for the 2023 tournament are the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, and the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo. Here's a full look at the details for pool play:
Pool A (Taiwan, March 8-13)
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Chinese Taipei
Cuba
Italy
Netherlands
Pool B (Tokyo, March 9-13)
Australia
China
Korea
Japan
Pool C (Phoenix, March 11-15)
Canada
Colombia
Mexico
United States
Pool D (Miami, March 11-15)
Dominican Republic
Israel
Puerto Rico
Venezuela
While the World Baseball Classic field currently consists of only the 16 teams from the 2017 tournament, each pool will be adding one more club via the qualifiers tournament. This is the first time the World Baseball Classic will feature 20 teams.
In the qualifiers tournament, the top two teams from Pool A (Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, South Africa, Spain) and Pool B (Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Pakistan) advance to the World Baseball Classic. Qualifiers tournament competition for Pool A runs from Sept. 16-21 in Regensburg, Germany, and for Pool B from Sept. 30-Oct. 5 in Panama City, Panama.
Once the World Baseball Classic gets underway, the two best clubs from each five-team pool will secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Teams that advance from Pools A and B will play the quarterfinals in Japan from March 15-16, while teams from Pools C and D will play in Miami from March 17-18.
The semifinals (March 19-20) and championship game (March 21) will both take place in Miami. The final two rounds of the 2017 tournament were played at Dodger Stadium.
