The World Baseball Classic is part of two of baseball’s biggest tournaments, but the WBC is one of the most attractive for fans. The first time this tournament was held was in 2006.
The Japanese were the first to win a World Baseball Classic in 2006, during that edition only 16 teams played in the tournament. A year later the Japanese won the WBC again in what was the first Back-to-Back title of the tournament.
Among the top favorites are the Caribbean teams, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and for South America the top favorite is Venezuela. While in Asia, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are the most dominant teams.
List of Word Baseball Classic champions since 2006
United States and Mexico are the most dangerous North American teams in the tournament, being United States the team that usually has the best roster.
| Ed. | Year | First place game | Semi-finalists | teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | Third | Fourth | |||
| 1 | 2006 | Japan | 10–6 Petco Park,San Diego |
Cuba | South Korea | Dominican Republic | 16 |
| 2 | 2009 | Japan | 5–3 Dodger Stadium,Los Angeles |
South Korea | Venezuela | United States | 16 |
| 3 | 2013 | Dominican Republic | 3–0 AT&T Park,San Francisco |
Puerto Rico | Japan | Netherlands | 16 |
| 4 | 2017 | United States | 8–0 Dodger Stadium,Los Angeles |
Puerto Rico | Japan | Netherlands | 16 |
| 5 | 2023 | Japan | 3-2 LoanDepot Park,Miami |
United States | Mexico | Cuba | 20 |
The only time a ‘small team’ that played in aWorld Baseball Classic final was Cuba in 2006, otherwise all the finals were played between favorites.
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2(2006,2009, 2023) | – | 2(2013,2017) | – | 4 |
| United States | 1(2017) | 1(2023) | – | 1 (2009) | 2 |
| Dominican Republic | 1(2013) | – | – | 1 (2006) | 2 |
| Puerto Rico | – | 2(2013,2017) | – | – | 2 |
| South Korea | – | 1(2009) | 1(2006) | – | 2 |
| Cuba | – | 1(2006) | – | 1(2023) | 2 |
| Venezuela | – | – | 1(2009) | – | 1 |
| Mexico | – | – | 1(2023) | – | 1 |
| Netherlands | – | – | – | 2 (2013,2017) | 2 |
Only two finals ended without runs for the runners-up, in 2013 when the Dominican Republic won against Puerto Rico 3-0 and in 2017 when the United States won 8-0 against Puerto Rico. The Puerto Ricans are the only WBC team to lose two consecutive finals.