Here is the official bracket. This should make it clear.
Edit: The bracket manipulation comes from guaranteeing that the USA plays on the 13th and Japan plays on the 14th. Since teams that play on the 13th play on the 15th and teams that play on the 14th play on the 16th, this ensures that if USA and Japan both make the knockout round they will not face each other until the final. I am 99% sure that this is how the tournament works.
Japan vs. Venezuela is gonna be a great fucking game, definitely the one I’m most excited for
(and by me saying this, it’s gonna be a boring blowout one way or the other)
Atraktape
USA really played themselves into DR’s half of the bracket.
Atraktape
Good luck Puerto Rico.
Wide-Choice6880
Odds heavily favor DR, USA, Japan and PR but I think Italy will win their match up. Unless they don’t sleep for the next 3 days due to caffeine intake.
sevelev711
Don’t care who wins, just hoping for bangers, that’s all.
darkravenn12
I think Japan vs. Venezuela is Ranger Suarez vs. Yamamoto??
WHTLGHTNNSTDFMTNDW
Gentleman I have a proposal for Team Chaos: America v Venezuela.
MarlKarx777
We’re coming to avenge the gold medal (I’m delusional)
ObviousBig315
Top 2 placing Non US Americas team qualify for Olympics. Looking at this I think the favorites have to be DR and PR for the spots
JCMoney1987
Calling my shot now:
Canada Vs Italy final.
DionBlaster123
Rooting for South Korea but they’re probably going to get lit up like a joint lol
After that, the only team I’d like to see win is probably Puerto Rico.
Da_Taternater78
I hope Canada USA is the most toxic baseball game ever played
Puzzleheaded-Net-271
I can see an upset in VZ vs JP
The-original-spuggy
This slaps tho. Well except the Italy thing, but if they can pull off a Cinderella story I’m all for it
Impossible_Host2420
Something tells me Japan Is gonna get knocked out by Venezuela
Akipella
Somehow we ended up on the opposite side of Japan…of course
PuppyKeepAcct
Italy vs DR is the final ticket.
New-Professional-35
D.R vs Japan.. that’s the final I want.
Gbrusse
Final will be DR vs Japan
smarjorie
I did the MLB.com bracket challenge and got 7/8 right in the pool round. Only wrong pick was choosing Mexico over Italy. I’m usually really bad at predicting baseball so I wanted to brag about it
Ok_Advice_8012
Italy wins the whole thing calling it now.
cadublin
Italy used up all their luck on baseball, I guess they will miss WC again.
emi89ro
I would love to see Dominican Republic vs Italy so we can finally learn what’s more powerful, the power of friendship or the power of espresso.
But if I was gambling I’d bet on Japan making it to the finals
32 Comments
as a Korean…
Venezuela vs Japan what a banger
I’m not a flag scientist.
We winning the whole thing.
Damn, my korea is gonna get knocked out in first game of r8 wo a miracle.
Italy? No team is ready for that shit
The semifinal is NOT RESEEDED. This bracket doesn’t have lines connecting the quarterfinal to the semifinal, for whatever reason.
[https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/bracket](https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/bracket)
Here is the official bracket. This should make it clear.
Edit: The bracket manipulation comes from guaranteeing that the USA plays on the 13th and Japan plays on the 14th. Since teams that play on the 13th play on the 15th and teams that play on the 14th play on the 16th, this ensures that if USA and Japan both make the knockout round they will not face each other until the final. I am 99% sure that this is how the tournament works.
Edit 2: I am now 100% sure. It is no longer up for debate. Here is the article from [MLB.com](http://MLB.com) that confirms this. Read the « what’s at stake » section for PR/Italy or USA/Canada. [https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-2026-world-baseball-classic-quarterfinal-matchups](https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-2026-world-baseball-classic-quarterfinal-matchups)
We’re all thinking Japan DR final right
The final game on st patricks day???? Nuts
Japan vs. Venezuela is gonna be a great fucking game, definitely the one I’m most excited for
(and by me saying this, it’s gonna be a boring blowout one way or the other)
USA really played themselves into DR’s half of the bracket.
Good luck Puerto Rico.
Odds heavily favor DR, USA, Japan and PR but I think Italy will win their match up. Unless they don’t sleep for the next 3 days due to caffeine intake.
Don’t care who wins, just hoping for bangers, that’s all.
I think Japan vs. Venezuela is Ranger Suarez vs. Yamamoto??
Gentleman I have a proposal for Team Chaos: America v Venezuela.
We’re coming to avenge the gold medal (I’m delusional)
Top 2 placing Non US Americas team qualify for Olympics. Looking at this I think the favorites have to be DR and PR for the spots
Calling my shot now:
Canada Vs Italy final.
Rooting for South Korea but they’re probably going to get lit up like a joint lol
After that, the only team I’d like to see win is probably Puerto Rico.
I hope Canada USA is the most toxic baseball game ever played
I can see an upset in VZ vs JP
This slaps tho. Well except the Italy thing, but if they can pull off a Cinderella story I’m all for it
Something tells me Japan Is gonna get knocked out by Venezuela
Somehow we ended up on the opposite side of Japan…of course
Italy vs DR is the final ticket.
D.R vs Japan.. that’s the final I want.
Final will be DR vs Japan
I did the MLB.com bracket challenge and got 7/8 right in the pool round. Only wrong pick was choosing Mexico over Italy. I’m usually really bad at predicting baseball so I wanted to brag about it
Italy wins the whole thing calling it now.
Italy used up all their luck on baseball, I guess they will miss WC again.
I would love to see Dominican Republic vs Italy so we can finally learn what’s more powerful, the power of friendship or the power of espresso.
But if I was gambling I’d bet on Japan making it to the finals