The 2023 World Baseball Classic wrapped up Tuesday night with Shohei Ohtani and Japan holding off the United States in the championship game. It's the third WBC title for Japan, which denied Team USA a second championship in a row. Japan went unbeaten in the tournament, coming from behind to beat Mexico on Monday in the semifinals before a 3-2 win over the U.S. in the final on Tuesday.
This year's WBC was the fifth installment of the tournament, and Japan has now won 60% of WBC titles. The nation will try to defend the title in 2026 when the WBC returns.
With Japan adding to the World Baseball Classic record books on Tuesday, let's take a look back at WBC history. Here's a full list of the event's winners, the runner-up and tournament MVP. (Note: The 2021 World Baseball Classic was pushed back to this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
List of World Baseball Classic winners
2006
- Winner: Japan
- Runner-up: Cuba
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka
2009
- Winner: Japan
- Runner-up: South Korea
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka
2013
- Winner: Dominican Republic
- Runner-up: Puerto Rico
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Robinson Canó
2017
- Winner: United States
- Runner-up: Puerto Rico
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Marcus Stroman
2023
- Winner: Japan
- Runner-up: United States
- World Baseball Classic MVP: Shohei Ohtani
Country | Number of World Baseball Classic titles |
---|---|
Japan | 3 (2006, 2009, 2023) |
Dominican Republic | 1 (2013) |
United States | 1 (2017) |