Japan have sealed their victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic final with a close 3-2 score against the United States, check out the full list of WBC winners from 2006 till date, along with other details
The World Baseball Classic features only the best baseball teams and is the sport’s biggest tournament.
World Baseball Classic (2023) full winners list over the years
#WorldBaseballClassic titles:
Japan: 3 🇯🇵
Dominican Republic: 1 🇩🇴
United States: 1 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/EM5KnxgUxL— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 22, 2023
Undefeated Team Japan secures its 3rd #WorldBaseballClassic title! pic.twitter.com/ehM62luyw9
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 22, 2023
The WBC tournament took place in 2006 and just like the FIFA World Cup, it is held every four years.
World Baseball Classic (WBC)
Team Japan were the winners of the first World Baseball Classic in 2006, which featured only 16 teams. Japan won the next edition of the tournament making them the first Back-to-Back title winners of the tournament.
Amongst the Caribbean teams, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, are the top favourites. Meanwhile, Venezuela are the top favourite for in South America. In Asia, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea are the most dominant teams.
Whereas, the United States and Mexico have proven to be the most dangerous North American teams. United States has been the team that usually features the best roster owing to the success of the their domestic league, the MLB.
List of Word Baseball Classic champions since 2006
Given below is the list of Word Baseball Classic champions since 2006:
| First place game | Semi-finalists | ||||||
| Edition | Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up | Third | Fourth | Teams |
| 1 | 2006 | Japan | 10–6
Petco Park, San Diego |
Cuba | South Korea | Dominican Republic | 16 |
| 2 | 2009 | Japan | 5–3
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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 |
Cuba are the only ‘small team’ to have played in a World Baseball Classic final, back in 2006. Besides that, all the other finals have featured favorites.
Teams reaching the top four
Given below is the list of teams that have reached the top four across the different editions of the competition so far:
| 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 |
The Puerto Ricans are the only team to play in the WBC to have lost two consecutive finals. Moreover, the WBC has so far had only two finals, which ended without runs for the runners-up, and the Puerto Ricans were the runners up in both those finals. The first was in 2013 when the Dominican Republic won against Puerto Rico 3-0. The second time was back in 2017 when the United States won 8-0 against Puerto Rico.
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