World Baseball Classic preview: Top stars, predictions & more for every pool

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Get ready to dive into World Baseball Classic pool play.

The 2026 tournament, which gets underway this week, features four pools: A, B, C and D. Each of those pools consists of five teams battling it out in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool then advance to the quarterfinals, with the rest of the event taking place in a tournament-style, single-elimination format.

For a deeper look at each pool, and a prediction as to who will advance out of it, we called in an MLB.com reporter who will be on the scene providing coverage during the group stage. Here are their breakdowns.

Key storylines: This is maybe the most balanced pool of all four in the 2026 Classic. Colombia and Panama have improved dramatically over the last decade, and both may be boasting the best teams they’ve ever had with veteran pitching and Major League hitting. Even without one of the best Major Leaguers whoever donned a Canadian cap (Freddie Freeman), the team from the Great White North has added young upstart MLBers to give them the most exciting outfield in Pool A.

Cuba has a slew of star pitchers from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball and some tournament-experienced stalwarts who have been playing longer than you’ve been alive. And then there’s host team Puerto Rico, which lost some stars due to health issues, but still – as an island overflowing with big league talent – has a very good shot at advancing.

The stars: Looking at the rosters for Pool A, there aren’t really too many superstars who jump out at you. Maybe that’s why it’ll be such an evenly matched first round. Puerto Rico probably still has the most well-known names, like Edwin Díaz coming out of the bullpen and Nolan Arenado at third base. There’s also Seth Lugo on the mound and Heliot Ramos cruising around the outfield. Canada has the Naylor brothers (Josh and Bo), Tyler O’Neill and defensive magician Denzel Clarke, plus Jameson Taillon as an ace starter.

Colombia has two veteran names at the top of its rotation in Jose Quintana and Julio Teheran, with Gio Urshela defending at the hot corner. Panama features defensive whiz José Caballero in its infield and Edmundo Sosa in the outfield. Cuba … well … do you remember Alexei Ramirez? The 44-year-old former MLB All-Star is back playing for his home country.

Under-the-radar names to know: Canada features the top-ranked prospect in Pool A (No. 42 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100) in the Marlins’ Owen Caissie, who homered in the ‘23 WBC and had a superb year in Triple-A in 2025. He also has some luscious red hair, so he should be easy to spot. Puerto Rico’s Elmer Rodríguez is the No. 3 prospect in the Yankees’ system, and his arm has looked fantastic in early Spring Training action this year. Michael Arroyo is a key guy to watch for Colombia – he’s a top prospect for the Mariners (No. 67 overall) with speed, power and an adept ability to get on base. He’s barely 21 years old.

Speaking of speed, Panama may be running rampant with AL stolen-base leader Caballero and O’s No. 10 prospect Enrique Bradfield Jr. Jose Ramos, a former top MLB prospect now with the Mets, is also an offensive force to watch. Cuba features the best pitcher in NPB in Livan Moinelo: The lefty won the Pacific League MVP in 2025 and the ERA title in 2024. Oh, and you might know his name already, but 39-year-old Alfredo Despaigne is back again. He’s the all-time home run leader in WBC history.

Prediction: This pool is so tough to predict – it feels like it’ll be a grind-it-out, back-and-forth battle. I think Puerto Rico, which still has maybe the best big league roster of the five, will advance, and the home crowd at Hiram Bithorn should be extremely loud. And then I think Canada is the second team to make it out. It would, surprisingly, be its first time doing so. -- Matt Monagan

Key storylines: This is a strong pool. The U.S. has assembled a superteam in its attempt to reclaim World Baseball Classic gold after falling to Japan in the 2023 title game. It's championship or bust for Team USA, which won the tournament in 2017.

But it'll have to go through Mexico, which nearly took down the champs in the semifinals of the last Classic before a ninth-inning rally by Japan and a walk-off double by Munetaka Murakami sent them home. And Italy is also coming off a quarterfinal run in 2023, arguably has a stronger team this time around, and has beaten Mexico twice in the World Baseball Classic, in 2013 and 2017.

The stars: The U.S. is loaded with superstars -- Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Bryce Harper, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr. and a lot more. Mexico is led by WBC '23 supernova Randy Arozarena, Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk and Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz. Italy has slugger Vinnie Pasquantino returning from 2023, and has added players like Aaron Nola, Adam Ottavino and Jac Caglianone. Yankees All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr. is the headliner for Great Britain.

Under-the-radar names to know: Brazil doesn't have the Major League stars that other Pool B teams do, but they have a trio of big league legacy players -- Dante Bichette Jr. (son of Rockies slugger Dante), Lucas Ramirez (Manny's son) and 17-year-old Joseph Contreras (son of White Sox pitcher Jose). Great Britain's Harry Ford is the team's co-captain now after debuting in WBC '23 at age 20, and he's a former first-round Draft pick. Look out for up-and-coming young catcher Kyle Teel on Team Italy, who's coming off a very good rookie showing with the White Sox.

For Mexico, Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda doesn't steal the spotlight like Arozarena, but he batted .316 and was an All-Star in 2025. And if it's not the superstars for Team USA, it could be the rising stars like Roman Anthony, who was a late roster replacement for the injured Corbin Carroll.

Prediction: The U.S. is the clear top dog in this pool, if not the entire tournament. It'll advance. Mexico would be the easy pick to join the United States. But we think Italy just might have added the talent it needs to upset Mexico and steal the No. 2 spot coming out of Pool B. -- David Adler

Key storylines: With three World Baseball Classic championships and as the reigning Olympic gold medal winners, it's almost assumed that Japan will not only advance from the pool, but that it'll win it. With Shohei Ohtani back -- even if he's not pitching -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2025 Sawamura Award-winner Hiromi Itoh and a bevy of big league sluggers in Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, Masataka Yoshida and Seiya Suzuki, it certainly seems to have the firepower to emerge as tournament champs once again.

But every now and then, a giant falls -- and Japan's outfield defense has some problem spots. Could it be like in the Premier12 when Chinese Taipei knocked off Japan and ended its 27-game international winning streak? Baseball fandom has reached a fever pitch in Taiwan since then, so don't be surprised if the team pulls off a few surprises in Tokyo this year, too.

Korea won gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics and lost the 2009 World Baseball Classic championship in extra innings to Japan but they've failed to advance beyond the first round since '09. Injuries have hit the roster pretty hard ahead of this tournament, so a trip to the quarterfinals would feel like success. Meanwhile, Australia advanced beyond the group stage for the first time in 2023, and it would not be a shock to see them do so again, especially having added 2024 No. 1 overall Draft pick Travis Bazzana to the team.

And finally, there's Czechia. In 2023, the underdogs turned Ohtani and the Tokyo Dome supporters into Czech baseball fans, with the team using the last three years to supercharge the baseball program with more media coverage than ever before and trips to play exhibition games in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. The pool is much stronger this time around, but so are the Czechs, who are coming off a bronze medal in the 2025 European Baseball Championship.

The stars: Of course, it all starts with Ohtani. I mean, what more is there to say about the man? He may not be pitching this time around, but there's a reason why he's on every billboard and in every advertisement you see in Tokyo: He's really just that good. Since it feels like a cop-out to list the greatest living baseball player, let's also add Yamamoto. The Dodgers' postseason star will need to take on a bigger role for Samurai Japan now that they're missing both Ohtani and Roki Sasaki from the rotation.

We already mentioned Australia's Bazzana, who is loaded with tools and talent. Then there's Korea's Jung Hoo Lee, the "Grandson of the Wind," who returns for his second Classic and is coming off his best big league campaign. With injuries depleting much of Korea's roster, Lee -- who was 6-for-14 with four runs and five RBIs in 2023 -- will need to repeat that performance to push his team forward.

Under-the-radar names to know: Chieh-Hsien Chen, Chinese Taipei's captain, won MVP honors by batting .652 to lead his team to its greatest success, a 2024 Premier12 title. Known as "The Muscleman" for his impressive physique, the 22-year-old outfielder Hyun-Min Ahn is already a lock in the top half of Korea's order after slashing .334/.448/.570 with 22 home runs in just 112 KBO games last season.

Japan's Kensuke Kondoh is the embodiment of a "professional hitter." Standing just 5-foot-8, he's a career .307/.417/.456 hitter in NPB, and he was crucial to Japan's success in the 2023 tournament, slashing .346/.500/.615. For the Czechs, Ondřej Satoria -- he of Ohtani strikeout fame -- is pitching in his final tournament and pitcher/firefighter Martin Schneider is not at full strength after returning from a shoulder injury. Fortunately the team has a healthy Jan Novak back on the roster: At the 2025 European Championship, Novak -- who previously pitched in the Orioles system -- struck out nine batters in 7 1/3 shutout innings.

Prediction: Japan is going to finish first once again -- it really is just that good. The battle for second is going to be extremely tight, but I'm giving the edge to Chinese Taipei. Coming off the Premier12 victory and with a promising pitching staff, I can see them sneaking through in second place. -- Michael Clair

Key storylines: The Dominican Republic looks like a juggernaut, right up there with Team USA -- and the 2013 WBC champs will be hungry to avenge their early exit in the last Classic. Venezuela was a big reason for that exit, sweeping through a pool with both the D.R. and Puerto Rico.

Israel will be trying to recapture the magic of its first WBC run in 2017, when it shocked everyone by winning its pool. It had a disappointing 2023 Classic though, as did the Netherlands, with neither country making it out of pool play. Nicaragua is looking for its first WBC win after making its debut in 2023.

The stars: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and more give the Dominican Republic a fearsome lineup … and Cristopher Sánchez and Sandy Alcantara lead an also-fearsome pitching staff. Venezuela has big names of its own -- Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio, Salvador Perez, Luis Arraez, Eugenio Suárez and Gleyber Torres, to name a few.

The Netherlands has Xander Bogaerts, Ozzie Albies, Kenley Jansen and Jurickson Profar. Israel has Harrison Bader, Tommy Kahnle and Spencer Horwitz. Even Nicaragua has Mets slugger Mark Vientos.

Under-the-radar names to know: The Netherlands' outfield could make tons of plays -- fitting, since Hall of Fame center fielder Andruw Jones is managing the squad. His son, Druw, is on the team and has inherited Andruw's terrific defense; he and reigning AL Gold Glover Ceddanne Rafaela could probably cover the entire outfield by themselves.

Israel has some interesting young players like Cole Carrigg, one of the Rockies' top prospects, who's played center field in the Minors but is set to play shortstop for Israel. Nicaragua outfielder Ismael Munguia, who's currently in the Blue Jays organization, just won the Dominican Winter League batting title by hitting .368.

Prediction: The Dominican Republic and Venezuela have by far the most firepower in Pool D, so they're the teams we're picking to advance out of the Miami pool. Israel and the Netherlands could make this a competitive group, though. -- Adler