WBSC announces dates for 2018 Baseball World Cups and Softball World Championships

Lausanne, Jan 25, 2018: The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced the dates of the 2018 Baseball World Cups and Softball World Championships that will be hosted in Canada, Japan, Nicaragua, Panama and the United States (WBSC announces dates).

Five official baseball and softball world championships are on the 2018 international calendar and will be staged between July to October.

The official wbsc.org tournament microsites of the 2018 Baseball World Cups and Softball World Championships have been launched in five languages, including Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. Fans will be able to follow all tournament information, including rosters, statistics, schedules, scores and standings, as well as latest news and historical results, via the official microsites.

Date Event Location Current World Champions
7-15 JUL XII Junior Men’s Softball World Championship Prince Albert, SK, Canada Japan
2-12 AUG XVI Women’s Softball World Championship Chiba, Japan USA
10-19 AUG IV U-15 Baseball World Cup Panama City, Panama Cuba
22-31 AUG VIII Women’s Baseball World Cup Viera, Florida, USA Japan
19-28 OCT II U-23 Baseball World Cup Managua, Nicaragua Japan

“This is an important year to showcase the global depth and excitement of our sport, as five of baseball and softball’s youth and women’s pinnacle international tournaments will be on display,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “These world championships will have a direct or cumulative impact on qualifying for the Olympic Games.”

The winner of the Women’s Softball World Championship in Chiba will earn a berth into the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The U-15 and U-23 Baseball World Cups will have the greatest impact this year on the WBSC Baseball World Rankings Presented By ENEOS. The Top 12 nations in the end-of-the-year rankings will qualify for the 2019 Premier12® Men’s Professional Baseball National Team global championship, which will be a direct qualifier for the Olympic Games.

Groups, game schedules and broadcast/live-stream schedules of the 2018 WBSC Baseball World Cups and Softball World Championships will be revealed in upcoming announcements. —- WBSC