2021 World Baseball Classic expected to be cancelled
According to ESPN's Enrique Rojas, the 2021 World Baseball Classic is expected to be cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
It has become increasingly likely that the event could be delayed until at least 2023, organizers told Rojas.
"(The tournament) is not a priority right now," a source told Rojas.
The WBC is a joint operation between the MLB and its players' association, it is even included in the league's collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA expires in December 2021, so it would need to be renegotiated before any MLB players can play in the WBC again, Rojas reports.
The 2021 WBC was set to be the fifth edition of the international tournament
Marlins Park in Miami would have hosted the championship rounds next March, in addition to Pool D and quarterfinal games. Phoenix's Chase Field was scheduled to host Pool C games. Pools A and B, along with the other quarterfinal round, were to be held in Taichung, Taiwan, as well as Tokyo.
Twelve countries - Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the United States, and Venezuela - all automatically qualified for the 2021 WBC.
Qualifying tournaments to fill the main tournament's final four spots had been scheduled for this past March until the pandemic forced their cancellation.
The United States won the most recent edition of the WBC, in 2017.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 16, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||