South Korea will meet Japan in the first round of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) group stage, which is called the “Baseball World Cup.”안전놀이터
According to the secretariat of the U.S. Major League Baseball on Tuesday, Korea will play with Japan, Australia, and the Czech Republic in Group C at Tokyo Dome in Japan from March 5 to 10, 2026. Group A includes Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Canada, Group B includes the U.S., Mexico, Italy, the U.K., Group D includes the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the Netherlands, and Israel. Four countries that will pass the preliminary round in February and March next year will be added one team per group, with a total of five teams that will advance to the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals will be held in Houston and Miami from March 13 to March 14 in the same year. The semifinals (March 15 to 16) and the final (March 17) will be held in Miami, the U.S.
The schedule for the first round match has been confirmed. Korea’s first opponent in the first round match to be held on March 5 is the Czech Republic. It will have a match against Japan, its archrival, on March 7. It will have a match against a country that passed the preliminary round on August 8, and a match against Australia on September 9, the last day of the first round. As with the fifth round held last year, the most important match to advance to the second round (quarterfinal match) will be the match against Australia.
The team that was ranked second in Group C will move to Rondipo Park in Miami, Florida for a game. The second-ranked team in Group C will meet with the first-ranked team in Group D on March 14, Korean time, and the first-ranked team in Group C and the second-ranked team in Group D will play each other on March 15. As Group D has baseball powers such as the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, it is expected that it will not be easy for anyone to meet. Both the semifinal and the final will be held at Rondipo Park.
Korea’s best performance is that of the runner-up. It advanced to the semifinals at the inaugural competition in 2006, and was the runner-up at the second competition in 2009. It had to be eliminated in the first round for the third consecutive time since the third competition. It failed in the first round last year as well. Given that a large number of young players are leading the success of professional baseball this year, analysts say that if the national team is formed with the strongest capacity, it will be able to perform well enough in the WBC.