It’s the final day of pool play at the World Baseball Classic, and there’s a lot riding on the outcome of Wednesday’s three games.
After a stunning 8-6 loss to Italy on Tuesday, the United States needs Italy to beat Mexico on Wednesday — or have Mexico score no more than four runs in a nine-inning victory — to reach the quarterfinals.
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Team USA entered Tuesday with a chance to go 4-0 in pool play and punch its ticket to the quarterfinals. Instead, the Americans were shut down by Italy through five innings before mounting a comeback that wasn’t quite enough. The Italians stayed undefeated heading into their game against Mexico.
This year marks the sixth iteration of the international baseball tournament, with Japan the reigning champion after defeating Team USA 3-2 in the 2023 final. The Americans have taken home one WBC title, back in 2017, and they’re looking for a second with a loaded roster that includes 22 MLB All-Stars — the most of any roster in the tournament. Among those representing Team USA are Paul Skenes, Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge, just to name a few of the stars, with the U.S. entering the tournament as the favorite (-105) over Japan (+350) at BetMGM.
The quarterfinals will be Friday and Saturday (March 13 and 14) and semifinals will be on Sunday and Monday (March 15 and 16). It all culminates with the WBC final on Tuesday, March 17, at loanDepot Park in Miami.
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Games will air across Fox, FS1, FS2 and Fox Deportes, with streaming for all games available with a Fox One subscription.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest news and updates from the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Live225 updates
Jack Baer
Facing a tough situation, Cuba starter Livan Moinelo struck out Tyler O’Neill and got pop-outs from Abraham Toro and Matt Davidson to keep the first inning scoreless.
Jack Baer
With Team Italy catcher Kyle Teel out with a hamstring strain from the win over Team USA, the Italians are reportedly hustling for the paperwork to promote their bullpen catcher to the active roster.
Jack Baer
Canada-Cuba is underway and just had a weird play in the first inning. With runners on first and second and no outs, Cuba pitcher Livan Moinelo appeared to catch Otto Lopez at second, but the umpire ruled Yoan Moncada impeded the runner in the rundown. So now Canada gets two runners in scoring position with no outs.
Jack Baer
The full tiebreaker involves an unacceptable amount of math, but the mechanics of the Italy-USA-Mexico situation break down like this for tonight’s game:
Italy wins: Italy and USA advance, Mexico eliminated
Mexico wins while scoring 5 or more runs: Mexico and USA advance, Italy eliminated
Mexico wins while scoring 4 or fewer runs: Mexico and Italy advance, USA eliminated
Wed, March 11, 2026 at 8:51 AM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The World Baseball Classic is down to its final day of pool play with three games — each of which will decide the quarterfinal bracket.
3 p.m. ET: Canada vs. Cuba (FS2) — Winner joins Puerto Rico as Pool A representatives in the quarterfinals.
7 p.m. ET: Italy vs. Mexico — With a victory over Mexico, Italy will win Pool B and assure the United States reaches the quarterfinals as the pool runner-up. If Mexico wins, there will be a three-time tiebreaker with runs allowed likely deciding the two quarterfinalists.
8 p.m. ET: Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela (Tubi) — Winner finishes first in Pool D, while the other team will be the runner-up.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 9:20 PM PDT
Judge strikes out, and that does it for Team USA. Italy stuns the Americans with a dominant victory in Pool B.
With the loss, Team USA finishes 3-1 in pool play, and Italy improves to 3-0 before playing Mexico on Wednesday to conclude pool play and determine how this group shakes out.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 9:16 PM PDT
Bobby Witt Jr. singles, Gunnar Henderson strikes out, and it’s up to Aaron Judge with two outs and the U.S. down by 2.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 9:12 PM PDT
Pete Crow-Armstrong blasts a solo home run for his second long ball of the night, and it’s 8-6 USA with one out.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 9:04 PM PDT
The flamethrower makes it look easy with three straight outs, including two strikeouts, to finish the Italians’ half of the ninth inning.
Team USA is coming up with three more outs to tie this game — or else sit and await their fate when Mexico and Italy play Wednesday.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 8:59 PM PDT
Harper worked a full count but ultimately flied out for the final out of the eighth inning, leaving Will Smith and Roman Anthony on base.
It’s 8-5 Italy as we head to the ninth.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 8:53 PM PDT
Roman Anthony delivers a third straight single to score Kyle Schwarber. Will Smith goes to third.
It’s now 8-5, and Bryce Harper is coming up to bat as the tying run for Team USA with two outs in the eighth.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 8:51 PM PDT
Kyle Schwarber and Will Smith have notched back-to-back singles with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
Roman Anthony is up next with a chance to really make this interesting.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 8:48 PM PDT
David Bednar walked the bases loaded on two singles and a hit batter, and the Italians were threatening to extend their lead.
But Bednar got out of it with a strikeout of Dante Nori and a groundout from Jakob Marsee, and now the USA lineup goes back to work. It’s still 8-4.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 8:28 PM PDT
The bottom of the USA lineup delivers three runs with two outs in the seventh inning to make it 8-4.
Paul Goldschmidt singled, Brice Turang doubled, and then Pete Crow-Armstrong smashed a no-doubt home run to make this a game again.
Even if it’s not enough for the U.S. to mount a comeback, that home run could end up being significant in a tiebreaker.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 8:14 PM PDT
Canada held Puerto Rico scoreless across the final five frames to secure a 3-2 win over Puerto Rico.
With the victory, Puerto Rico, which has already secured a spot in the quarterfinals, falls to 3-1 in Pool A. Canada improves to 2-1 and will play Cuba, also 2-1, on Wednesday. The winner of that contest will advance. It’ll go to a tiebreaker to determine the Pool A winner and runner-up.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 8:04 PM PDT
A solo home run off the bat of the Orioles’ star makes it 8-1 through six innings.
The U.S. lineup is still in a big hole, but at least the shutout is over.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 7:52 PM PDT
A would-be double play instead became a run when Brad Keller threw the ball into center field. And then a sac fly makes it 7-0.
This is officially a disaster for Team USA.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 7:36 PM PDT
The bad news for Team USA: They are losing 5-0 and have only 2 hits and 1 walk through four innings.
The good news: Michael Lorenzen is out of the game due to the pitch count rule. He exits after throwing 4 2/3 scoreless innings against Team USA’s vaunted lineup.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 7:16 PM PDT
The Netherlands took an early lead, but Israel’s five-run sixth inning broke the game open and ultimately was enough to secure the team’s second win of the WBC.
Israel finishes 2-2 in the tournament, while the Netherlands falls to 1-3. Neither team is advancing from Pool D.
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 7:06 PM PDT
Jac Caglianone launches another home run off of Nolan McLean, and it’s officially time for the Americans to start stressing.
It’s 5-0 Italy in the fourth inning.