With only the championship left to play, the World Baseball Classic has been rife with drama.
Whether it's been Cuba overcoming an 0-2 hole to win Pool A, Mexico and Team USA advancing out of Pool C on the final day of pool play, or Japan steamrolling its way through the tournament, every team in the semifinals had a fascinating path through the WBC.
So far, the only perfect team is Samurai Japan, which looks truly unstoppable to this point. Team USA, however, showed that all it takes is one game to beat a team previously thought to look unbeatable, having beaten Venezuela in the quarterfinals after Venezuela rolled through Pool D with a 4-0 record, including wins over the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
MORE: Watch the World Baseball Classic live with fuboTV (free trial)
In the semifinals, Team USA looked the most dominant it has since its third game against Canada, winning 14-2 to advance to the championship. Regarding the aforementioned drama, Japan defeated Mexico on a walk-off home run from Munetaka Murakami after trailing for the majority of the game.
Nothing has come easy to this point. And that is unlikely to change in the final game of the tournament. Here's how we got to this point.
MORE: 2023 World Baseball Classic format, explained
2023 World Baseball Classic baseball standings
Teams played four round-robin games games in their respective pools. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
Pool A: Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, Taichung, Chinese Taipei
| Pos. | Team | GP | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuba* | 4 | 2 | 2 | - |
| 2 | Italy* | 4 | 2 | 2 | - |
| 3 | Panama | 4 | 2 | 2 | - |
| 4 | Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 2 | - |
| 5 | Chinese Taipei | 4 | 2 | 2 | - |
* - Advances to quarterfinals
Pool B: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
| Pos. | Team | GP | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan* | 4 | 4 | 0 | - |
| 2 | Australia* | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Korea | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | China | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
* - Advances to quarterfinals
Pool C: Chase Field, Phoenix
| Pos. | Team | GP | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico* | 4 | 3 | 1 | - |
| 2 | USA* | 4 | 3 | 1 | - |
| 3 | Canada | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | Great Britain | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Colombia | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
* - Advances to quarterfinals
Pool D: LoanDepot Park, Miami
| Pos. | Team | GP | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venezuela* | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Puerto Rico* | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Dominican Republic | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Israel | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Nicaragua | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
* - Advances to quarterfinals
2023 World Baseball Classic baseball schedule
Pool play in the 2023 World Baseball Classic took place March 7-15 (U.S. Eastern time zone). Games will be telecast on the Fox Sports family of networks. Games can also be streamed via fuboTV, which offers a free trial.
(All times Eastern in U.S.)
Pool A (Chinese Taipei)
| Date | Time | Matchup | TV |
| March 7 | 11 p.m. | Netherlands 4, Cuba 2 | FS1 |
| March 8 | 6 a.m. | Panama 12, Chinese Taipei 5 | FS2 |
| March 8 | 11 p.m. | Netherlands 3, Panama 1 | FS2 |
| March 9 | 6 a.m. | Italy 6, Cuba 3 (10 innings) | Tubi |
| March 9 | 11:30 p.m. | Cuba 13, Panama 4 | FS1 |
| March 10 | 6 a.m. | Chinese Taipei 11, Italy 7 | Tubi |
| March 10 | 11 p.m. | Panama 2, Italy 0 | FS1 |
| March 11 | 6 a.m. | Chinese Taipei 9, Netherlands 5 | FS2 |
| March 11 | 11 p.m. | Cuba 7, Chinese Taipei 1 | FS2 |
| March 12 | 7 a.m. | Italy 7, Netherlands 1 | FS2 |
Pool B (Tokyo)
| Date | Time | Matchup | TV |
| March 8 | 10 p.m. | Australia 8, Korea 7 | FS1 |
| March 9 | 5 a.m. | Japan 8, China 1 | FS2 |
| March 9 | 10 p.m. | Czech Republic 8, China 5 | Tubi |
| March 10 | 5 a.m. | Japan 13, Korea 4 | FS2 |
| March 10 | 10 p.m. | Australia 12, China 2 (7 innings) | FS2 |
| March 11 | 5 a.m. | Japan 10, Czech Republic 2 | FS1 |
| March 11 | 10 p.m. | Korea 7, Czech Republic 3 | FS1 |
| March 12 | 6 a.m. | Japan 7, Australia 1 | FS1 |
| March 12 | 11 p.m. | Australia 8, Czech Republic 3 | FS2 |
| March 13 | 6 a.m. | Korea 22, China 2 (5 innings) | FS2 |
Pool C (Phoenix)
| Date | Time | Matchup | TV |
| March 11 | 2:30 p.m. | Colombia 5, Mexico 4 (10 innings) | Fox |
| March 11 | 10 p.m. | USA 6, Great Britain 2 | Fox |
| March 12 | 3 p.m. | Canada 18, Great Britain 8 (7 innings) | FS1 |
| March 12 | 10 p.m. | Mexico 11, USA 5 | FS1 |
| March 13 | 3 p.m. | Great Britain 7, Colombia 5 | FS2 |
| March 13 | 10 p.m. | USA 12, Canada 1 (7 innings) | FS1 |
| March 14 | 3 p.m. | Canada 5, Colombia 0 | FS2 |
| March 14 | 10 p.m. | Mexico 2, Great Britain 1 | FS1 |
| March 15 | 3 p.m. | Mexico 10, Canada 3 | FS2 |
| March 15 | 10 p.m. | USA 3, Colombia 2 | FS1 |
Pool D (Miami)
| Date | Time | Matchup | TV |
| March 11 | Noon | Puerto Rico 9, Nicaragua 1 | FS2 |
| March 11 | 7 p.m. | Venezuela 5, Dominican Republic 1 | FS1 |
| March 12 | Noon | Israel 3, Nicaragua 1 | FS2 |
| March 12 | 7 p.m. | Venezuela 9, Puerto Rico 6 | FS1 |
| March 13 | Noon | Dominican Republic 6, Nicaragua 1 | FS2 |
| March 13 | 7 p.m. | Puerto Rico 10, Israel 0 | FS1 |
| March 14 | Noon | Venezuela 4, Nicaragua 1 | FS2 |
| March 14 | 7 p.m. | Dominican Republic 10, Israel 0 | FS2 |
| March 15 | Noon | Venezuela 5, Israel 1 | FS2 |
| March 15 | 7 p.m. | Puerto Rico 5, Dominican Republic 2 | FS2 |
Quarterfinals
| Date | Time | Venue | Matchup | TV |
| March 15 | 6 a.m. | Tokyo | Cuba 4, Australia 3 | FS2 |
| March 16 | 6 a.m. | Tokyo | Japan 9, Italy 3 | FS2 |
| March 17 | 7 p.m. | Miami | Mexico 5, Puerto Rico 4 | FS1 |
| March 18 | 7 p.m. | Miami | USA 9, Venezuela 7 | Fox |
Semifinals
| Date | Time | Venue | Matchup | TV |
| March 19 | 7 p.m. | Miami | USA 14, Cuba 2 | FS1 |
| March 20 | 7 p.m. | Miami | Japan 6, Mexico 5 | FS1 |
Championship
| Date | Time | Venue | Matchup | TV |
| March 21 | 7 p.m. | Miami | Japan 3, USA 2 | FS1 |