World Baseball Classic 2026: these are the four host cities

The venues have been confirmed for the 2026 World Baseball Classic - a tournament at which Japan will defend the trophy they won in 2023.

Which cities will host the WBC?

The host cities for the sixth edition of the WBC, the world’s most prestigious baseball tournament at national-team level, will be: San Juan, Puerto Rico; Houston, Texas; Miami, Florida; and Tokyo, Japan. The competition’s organisers have announced that it will take place in March 2026, although the event’s exact dates are yet to be finalised.

Tokyo Dome has been among the arenas at every WBC since its inception in 2006, while Miami’s LoanDepot Park will be a tournament venue for the second straight occasion. San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium will host WBC games for the first time since 2013, and Houston’s Minute Maid Park will be making its competition debut.

Houston, which has already staged several World Series games involving the Astros, is “excited and honoured” to host the WBC for the first time, says the MLB franchise’s owner and chairman. “Houston is a global city with the best baseball fans, and we are proud to welcome fans from across the globe to watch international competition at Minute Maid Park,” Crane declared.

Miami set to host WBC final once more

The first round of the tournament will be played at all four venues, with each pool playing in a different city. The semi-finals will be split between Miami and Houston, before LoanDepot Park once again hosts the final, having also been the venue for Japan’s 3-2 win over the United States last year.

Houston is preparing for a busy year in 2026. In addition to the WBC, the city will be the setting for games in soccer’s men’s World Cup, with NRG Stadium the arena used.