 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| City | Panama City and Regensburg |
| Dates | September 16 – October 5, 2022[1] |
| Teams | 12 |
The qualifying round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic was held from 16 September 2022 to 5 October 2022. Teams which participated at the 2017 World Baseball Classic automatically qualified for the 2023 tournament. The qualifying round consisted of two tournaments to be participated by six teams each. The qualifiers were planned to be hosted in Tucson, Arizona in the United States but after the delay, the qualifier hosts were changed to the cities of Regensburg, Germany at Armin-Wolf-Arena and Panamá City, Panama at Estadio Rod Carew.[2] Winners and runners-up of each of the two tournaments qualified for the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[3]
The first qualifying tournament was originally scheduled to be held from March 13–18, 2020 and the second from March 20–25, 2020,[3] before the qualifiers' postponement was announced on March 12, 2020, by Major League Baseball due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5] In resolving the 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout,[citation needed] Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association agreed that the World Baseball Classic would return in 2023 and that qualifiers would begin in September 2022.[6]
- ^ "World Baseball Classic 2023 venues, pools announced". MLB.com. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
- ^ "Panama: Green light for the upgrade of Estadio Nacional". stadiumdb.com. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
- ^ a b "Qualifiers set for expanded 2021 World Baseball Classic". Agence France-Presse. January 28, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ Harrigan, Thomas (March 12, 2020). "World Baseball Classic qualifier games postponed". MLB.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
- ^ "Major League Baseball to delay 2020 Opening Day by at least two weeks". MLB.com Press Release. March 12, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "World Baseball Classic returning in 2023". The Athletic. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2022.