World Baseball Classic 2026 Pool C preview: Can anyone challenge Japan? Will Australia or Czechia make some noise?

It’s time for baseball’s international competition to move into the spotlight. That’s right: We’re less than a week away from the start of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, the sixth edition of the tournament.

This week, we’re previewing all 20 teams set to participate in the WBC. We’ve already covered Pool A and Pool B. Next up is Pool C, which features Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan and Korea and begins play March 5 in Tokyo.

Australia

Tournament history: The Aussies have participated in every previous iteration of the tournament, though it wasn’t until 2023 that they advanced past the first round, notching wins against all three non-Japan teams in their pool before being eliminated by Cuba in a one-run game in the quarterfinals. 

First game: March 5 vs. Chinese Taipei, 12 p.m. local (10 p.m. ET March 4)

Key players: All eyes will be on Travis Bazzana, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft who will be making his WBC debut. Born and raised in the suburbs of Sydney, Bazzana asserted himself as one of the brightest baseballing talents in Australia at an extremely young age before coming stateside to star for three years at Oregon State. Now on the cusp of the big leagues with the Cleveland Guardians, the sweet-swinging infielder will have the chance to raise his profile on the international stage before he makes his big-league debut, likely later this year. Australia also boasts a pair of twins on the mound in left-handers Alex and Lachlan Wells; Alex pitched in the majors with Baltimore in 2021 and ‘22, while Lachlan reached Double-A in 2024 and spent last season pitching in the KBO. 

Guy you don’t know yet but should: Blake Townsendis a 24-year-old left-hander who signed a minor-league contract with Texas in January after spending the first six years of his professional career with Seattle and Pittsburgh. His 1.76 ERA in 92 innings was fourth-lowest among minor-league arms with at least 90 innings pitched in 2025, and he could make his MLB debut this year.

Biggest strength: Continuity. Team Australia returns 17 players from the group that competed in 2023, tied for the most holdovers of any team in the tournament. Considering the Aussies three years ago managed to advance out of the group stage in Tokyo, that experience could prove valuable. 

Biggest weakness: Lack of affiliated players. Australia is tied with Brazil (and ahead of only Czechia) for the second-fewest players currently in an MLB organization, with five: Bazzana, Townsend, White Sox infielder Curtis Mead, A’s outfielder Max Durrington and Phillies right-hander Mitch Neunborn. 

Tournament outlook: Advancing out of pool play will be a much taller task for Australia than it was in 2023, when there were two clearly inferior teams in China and Czechia. Australia will again be heavily favored against Czechia, but beating any of the other three teams would be considered a sizable upset.

Read more: 6 major takeaways from the reveal of the WBC rosters

Chinese Taipei

Tournament history: One of the 13 teams to appear in all six editions of the WBC, Chinese Taipei is still looking to advance to the knockout stage for the first time. A five-way tie in Pool A played in Taichung in 2023 did not fall in the hosts’ favor, as Chinese Taipei finished last via tiebreaker, despite a couple of rollicking victories over Italy and the Netherlands. 

First game: March 5 vs. Australia, 12 p.m. local (10 p.m. ET March 4)

Key players: Yu Chang might’ve stolen the show in the last WBC, but if Taiwan is to make a real run in this tournament, it’ll need more of its position players to make an impact. The good news is Chang will be joined in the lineup by two intriguing bats who were not on the 2023 team in Tigers prospect Hao-Yu Lee and Cubs prospect Jonathon Long, both of whom raked in Triple-A last season but whose big-league debut timelines are unclear due to crowded depth charts ahead of them. But for the purposes of this tournament, this duo should lengthen Taiwan’s lineup considerably.

Guy you don’t know yet but should: Jo-Hsi Hsuisn’t the most imposing mound presence, listed at 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, but the right-hander has electric stuff, with a fastball up to 98 mph and a fantastic splitter. The 25-year-old excelled for the Wei Chuan Dragons in the Chinese Professional Baseball League last year before fielding interest from MLB and NPB teams and eventually signing with Japan’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Biggest strength: Young talent. Remarkably, the Taiwanese roster features more players currently on MLB Pipeline’s organizational Top 30 lists than any other team in the tournament. It’s an exciting blend of hitters and pitchers, with a pair of bat-first infielders in Long and Lee, and a quartet of arms headlined by the Athletics’ Wei-En Lin joined by his teammates Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang and Tzu-Chen Sha and D-backs left-hander Yu-Min Lin. 

Biggest weakness: Lack of major-league experience. While Taiwan’s team boasts nine players currently in an MLB organization, just one — outfielder Stuart Fairchild, who signed a minor-league deal with Cleveland in December — has actually reached the majors. That’s a noticeable difference compared to not only the pool favorite in Japan but also this team’s biggest competition to finish runner-up, Korea, which has seven players with MLB time.

Tournament outlook: It’ll likely come down to Chinese Taipei and Korea for the second ticket out of Pool C behind Japan, meaning all eyes will be on the pool play matchup between those two on March 8 (12 p.m. local, 10 p.m. ET March 7). Taiwan’s team is quite young, but don’t underestimate the raw talent on this roster. If this team advances as the Pool C runner-up, a daunting quarterfinal matchup with the Pool D winner — likely Dominican Republic or Venezuela — awaits. 

Czechia

Tournament history: 2023 was Czechia’s WBC debut, and it won its very first game against China before losing in blowout fashion against Japan (despite holding a 1-0 lead through two innings!), Korea and Australia. 

First game: March 5 vs. Korea, 7 p.m. local (5 a.m. ET)

Key players: It might not seem like much, but Czechia added a player with major-league experience to its roster in Terrin Vavra, who replaced another former big leaguer in Eric Sogard, who competed for Czechia in 2023 but had to skip this year’s tournament due to injury. Vavra appeared in 68 games for Baltimore over the past four seasons but is currently a free agent. On the mound, Ondrej Satoria will look to replicate his memorable feat of striking out Shohei Ohtani. 

Guy you don’t know yet but should: Marek Chluphasn’t played in affiliated ball but had a decorated collegiate career at Division II North Greenville (S.C.) and spent last season in the minors with NPB’s Yomiuri Giants. On a team filled with extremely average-looking dudes, the well-built, 27-year-old outfielder looks every bit the part of a pro ballplayer and has the power to change the game with one swing.

Biggest strength: Being under the least pressure of any team in the tournament. Czechia quickly became a lovable fan favorite in 2023, and there’s no reason to expect that to change in 2026. The opportunity to compete against a baseball behemoth in Japan and advance the sport back home is special enough on its own; the results are just gravy and should make playing in these games less stressful for Czechia than it’ll be for any other team in the tournament.

Biggest weakness: Lack of pro experience. Just a handful of players on this roster have played in professional leagues outside of their home nation, making them the ultimate underdogs when facing off against squads with global superstars like Samurai Japan. 

Tournament outlook: Without a comparable opponent such as China in their pool this year, the Czechs will be widely expected to go winless. If they can put up a real fight in any of their games, good on them.

Japan

Tournament history: Champions in 2006, 2009 and 2023, Samurai Japan has never finished worse than third in the WBC, which is where the team landed in 2013 and 2017. Japan has been an international baseball juggernaut at multiple levels for years and has grown only stronger as more Japanese players have become proven superstars at the MLB level. 

First game: March 6 vs. Chinese Taipei, 7 p.m. local (5 a.m. ET) 

Key players: Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are back to lead their home country’s title defense just months after claiming their second consecutive World Series championship with the Dodgers. But with Ohtani not pitching this time — like he did three years ago, when he led Japan in innings pitched and famously closed out the final against Mike Trout — and without the likes of Roki Sasaki, Shota Imanaga or Yu Darvish, there will be ample pressure on Yamamoto and the rest of the pitching staff to step up. Yamamoto remains the headliner, but veterans Yusei Kikuchi and Tomoyuki Sugano are also expected to garner starts, and the best NPB arms, such as Hiromi Itoh, Hiroya Miyagi and Taisei Ota, will be leaned on heavily in Japan’s run-prevention efforts.

Guy you don’t know yet but should: A crowded outfield picture means it’s uncertain exactly how much playing time he’s going to get, but left-handed slugger Teruaki Sato is coming off a monster season with the Hanshin Tigers that earned him Central League MVP honors. Amid a dead-ball era in NPB that has seen power production practically evaporate league-wide, Sato blasted 40 home runs in 139 games, while only one other player (Franmil Reyes) hit more than 23. Sato has primarily played third base in NPB but could factor into the outfield mix in the WBC if manager Hirokazu Ibata wants to add some more juice to his lineup. 

Biggest strength: The lineup. Japan’s pitching staff might be a tier below its 2023 group, but its offense is arguably better. Holdovers Ohtani, Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, Masataka Yoshida, Shugo Maki and Kensuke Kondoh are joined by a rising star in Sato and a proven MLB bat in Seiya Suzuki, who was unable to participate in 2023 due to injury. And consider how much Ohtani’s bat has leveled up since the tournament three years ago. He makes the top of Japan’s lineup that much more dangerous on his own, and the players who follow him have gained more experience in the years since this team’s 2023 triumph. 

Biggest weakness: Outfield defense. Reports indicate that Japan is likely to play Suzuki in center field, despite his having virtually zero professional experience at the position, and he’s expected to be flanked in left field by another poor defender in Yoshida. Kondohis projected to start in right and has a solid glove, but he dealt with a back injury last season that could limit his mobility. All together, it’s a potentially troubling combination, especially when Japan faces some defensive questions in the infield as well. It’s worth noting that Japan has an excellent centerfielder on the roster in the super-speedy Ukyo Shuto, but his bat is notably weaker than those of the other outfielders, so he’ll likely be used as a late-game replacement in the field and/or on the bases.

Tournament outlook: Japan should win Pool C handily, but beyond that, the path to the championship will be tougher than it was three years ago. A quarterfinal matchup against the runner-up in Pool D — likely either the Dominican Republic or Venezuela — looks far more challenging than facing Cuba in the 2023 quarters, and another difficult showdown could be in store in the semis (not to mention, a potential finals rematch against a tougher Team USA). Still, the standard remains sky-high for Samurai Japan, and faltering before the semis would be viewed as a massive disappointment.

Korea

Tournament history: Since finishing third in the inaugural tournament in 2006 and runner-up in 2009, Korea has failed to advance past the group stage in the past three WBCs. That includes a particularly disappointing showing in 2023, when a loss to Australia in its first pool-play game immediately squandered Korea’s chances of advancing. 

First game: March 5 vs. Czechia, 7 p.m. local (5 a.m. ET)

Key players: What will Korea get from 22-year-old infielder Do-yeong Kim? Kim burst on the scene in 2024 with a humungous campaign for the Kia Tigers (.347/.420/.647 with 38 home runs in 141 games) en route to KBO MVP honors and a whole lot more attention from the international scouting community. But 2025 was something of a lost season, as recurring hamstring injuries limited him to 30 games. If healthy and effective, Kim could be a difference-maker for Korea in his WBC debut.

Guy you don’t know yet but should: Hyun-min Ahn had a huge breakout season for the KT Wiz in the KBO last year, hitting .334/.448/.570 with more walks (75) than strikeouts (72). The 22-year-old outfielder is the kind of ascendent talent capable of stealing some attention from the more well-known commodities on the roster who have benefited from exposure at the major-league level. 

Biggest strength: The outfield. Joining Ahn in the grass will be Jung Hoo Lee coming off a sophomore season with the San Francisco Giants that saw his elite contact skills shine against the best pitchers in the world. We might also see the versatile Jahmai Jones in the outfield, as the Tigers’ platoon masher adds some major-league pedigree to Team Korea’s roster.

Biggest weakness: Pitching. It’s awesome that left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu is back to lead the charge on the mound — he last pitched for Korea in the 2009 edition of the WBC — but it’s not a good sign that the 38-year-old is considered the headliner of this staff. Adding an arm with MLB experience in Dane Dunning should help, but the pitching let Korea down in a big way in 2023, so the spotlight will be on the current crop of top KBO arms (Young-pyo Ko, Ju-young Son, Hyeong-jun So, Woo-joo Jeong) to show better this time around. 

Tournament outlook: After three straight first-round exits, Korea has to have its sights set on the knockout stage, which is an attainable goal but far from a certainty. The pool-play game against Chinese Taipei will be crucial.