| Most recent season or competition: 2011 Baseball World Cup | |
 The John Moores Trophy awarded in 1938 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1938 |
| Ceased | 2011 |
| No. of teams | 16 (in 2011) |
| Continent | International |
| Last champion(s) |  Netherlands |
| Most titles |  Cuba (25 titles) |
| WBSC Championship |
|---|
| Amateur World Series |
| Baseball World Cup |
| World Baseball Classic |
The Baseball World Cup (BWC) was an international baseball tournament for national teams around the world, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). First held in 1938 as the Amateur World Series (AWS), it was, for most of its history, the highest level of international baseball competition in the world. Even after it was supplanted in this regard in 2006 by the modern World Baseball Classic (WBC), the Baseball World Cup was still considered by the IBAF to be a major world championship, along with the WBC and the Summer Olympic Games.[1][2]
After the 2011 tournament, the Baseball World Cup was discontinued in favor of an expanded World Baseball Classic; the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) – successor to the IBAF – now organizes the WBC and awards its winner the title of "World Champion."[3] Additionally, the WBSC sanctions two new tournaments: the biennial 23U Baseball World Cup (begun as the 21U Baseball World Cup in 2014) and its quadrennial, flagship tournament, the WBSC Premier12 (starting in 2015), which involves the twelve best-ranked national teams in the world.[4]
- ^ "IBAF World Ranking Notes" (PDF). International Baseball Federation. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
- ^ "Singapore 2005: 2012 Olympic Sport Vote". International Olympic Committee. 11 July 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- ^ "Premier12 2019 Official Program - Page 6" (PDF). WBSC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ The Congress approved a new format of International tournaments