| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Countries | Australia Mexico Panama United States |
| Dates | February 11 – September 25, 2016 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 24 |
| Attendance | 111,795 (4,658 per game) |
The qualifying Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic was held from February 11 to September 25, 2016. Teams which participated at the 2013 World Baseball Classic were automatically qualified for the 2017 tournament except the four nations which ended up last in their respective groups: Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Spain had to play in the qualifiers along with 12 other national teams. 16 teams participated, divided into four groups of four teams each. The winners of each of the four groups qualified for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[1]
The qualifiers were organized as four independent modified double-elimination tournaments featuring four teams each. The final game was winner-take-all, even if won by the team emerging from the loser's bracket. That is, the team emerging from the winner's bracket might be eliminated despite losing only one game.
Australia, Mexico, Colombia, and Israel won their qualifiers and participated in the 2017 tournament. In their respective brackets, both Australia and Mexico were top seed (signified by home-field advantage) as well as the team that had competed in the 2013 tournament. However, Colombia defeated top seed Panama as well as 2013 participant Spain to advance, while top seed Israel defeated 2013 participant Brazil.