WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup historical preview: Intense contest in store for World Championship title

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Yesterday 10:05

A total of 12 teams from the five Olympic continents will start their quest for the latest WBSC World Championship title when the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/home">WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup 2024</a> begins in Barranquilla and Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on 16 August. The 50-game contest will run until August 25, when the World Champion will be crowned.

The 30th edition of the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/organisation/wbsc-events/u-15-baseball-world-cup">WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup</a> represents the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/organisation/wbsc-events/world-champions">185th World Champion</a> title to be ever contested in the history of international baseball and softball and the 114th for baseball only.

With 10 days to go to Opening Day, let's take a look at the participating teams in this World Cup.

The teams have been allocated into two groups to start the tournament, with the Opening Round taking place from 16 to 20 August. The top three at the end of the Opening Round standings will move to the Super Round. First and second place in the Super Round will play the World Championship Final, while third and fourth place finishers will meet for the bronze medal.

With USA and Cuba - the two most decorated nations in the history of this competition (and winners of 13 of the last 15 editions of the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup) - not participating in this year's event, baseball fans can expect a tough, intense competition for the World Championship title.

Let's take a look at each of the groups at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup 2024 (historical data includes the 13 World Youth Baseball Championships, U-16 and the five U-15 Baseball World Cups).

<h3>Group A</h3>

Two medallists and a world champion will start Group A of the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup 2024 as two of the favourites to advance to the Super Round. Two-time world champions and world No. 1 Japan, and bronze medallists and No. 9 Dominican Republic, will play No. 12 Puerto Rico, No. 13 Colombia, No. 14 Italy and No. 33 Guam in the Opening Round.

Japan won the first two editions of this tournament in 1989 and 1990. Since then, the Japaneses have failed to claim the title again. Holder of two silver medals and one bronze, Japan total five podiums in the event with the last one happening in 2016 on home soil. The Japanese squad qualified for the World Cup as runner up of the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/chinese-taipei-claim-u-15-asian-baseball-championship-qualify-for-world-cup-2024-along-with-runners-up-japan">Asia Qualifier</a> played in China. They lost to Chinese Taipei in the final, 6-4.

The Dominican Republic will make their fourth appearance in this tournament, and second in the last three competitions. Their first participation was in Mexico in 1994, when they lost the final against Caribbean arch-rivals Cuba. This is their only medal in the tournament to date. They finished 11th in 2011 in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico; and sixth in Panama 2016. The Dominican Republic hosted the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup-2024-americas-qualifier-puerto-rico-dominican-republic-mexico-nicaragua-venezuela-claim-tickets">Americas Qualifier</a> in March, losing the final against Puerto Rico, 5-4.

Puerto Rico, the Pan American Champions, are the third best-ranked team in the group. The Boricuas swept the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup-2024-americas-qualifier-puerto-rico-dominican-republic-mexico-nicaragua-venezuela-claim-tickets">qualifier in Boca Chica</a>, winning their six games. This will be their second appearance in the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup, after their debut in 2022 in Hermosillo, Mexico, where they finished fifth.

Colombia is the third team from the Americas in Group A. As hosts, they earned a <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup-2024-americas-qualifier-puerto-rico-dominican-republic-mexico-nicaragua-venezuela-claim-tickets">wild card</a> to participate in this event. The tournament will represent their third appearance in the U-15 Baseball World Cup. They made their debut in 2016 in Iwaki, Japan, finishing sixth, and appeared again in Hermosillo, Mexico, in 2022, earning a ninth place finish.

Representing the European continent, Italy is back in the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup after 10 years. Their last participation was in 2014 in Mazatlan, Mexico, when they finished 12th. This will be Italy's fifth participation in this event after advanced to the World Cup on the back of a second place finish in last year's <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/netherlands-win-u-15-baseball-european-championship-and-qualify-along-with-runner-up-italy-for-wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup-2024">European Championship</a>, losing the final against their historic rivals, Netherlands, 14-4 in five innings.

The lowest-ranked team in Group A is Guam, <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/guam-confirmed-as-oceania-u-15-champions-qualify-for-vi-wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup">representing Oceania after winning the qualifier</a> against New Zealand in a best-of-three series. They won the rubber game, 13-2, and qualified for their second consecutive World Cup. Guam made their debut in 2022, finishing in 12th place and becoming the 35th participating team in the U-15 Baseball World Cup. Guam earned their first-ever win in a WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup on opening day against South Africa, 10-8.

<h3>Group B</h3>

World No. 2 Mexico, No. 5 Chinese Taipei, No. 6 Venezuela, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 20 Nicaragua and No. 34 South Africa will meet in Group B of the World Cup. Chinese Taipei (10), Venezuela(4) and Mexico (1) total 15 medals, including a pair of world titles for Chinese Taipei and Venezuela.

In their 13th participation in the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup, Mexico aim to claim their second medal in the competition. Their only podium was in 2009 in Taichung, finishing behind USA and Cuba in the final standings. Mexico, who have played in six of the last seven competitions, earned the third place in the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup-2024-americas-qualifier-puerto-rico-dominican-republic-mexico-nicaragua-venezuela-claim-tickets">Americas Qualifier</a> with a 3-1 win against Group A rivals Nicaragua, securing a spot in the global event.

Chinese Taipei is the team with the most podium finishes among the participants in the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup 2024. They won the world title in 1991 in Melbourne, Australia while also having five silver medals and four bronzes to their name, including the last two in a row. This will be their 17th appearance in the competition, tying only with Japan with the most appearances overall. Chinese Taipei won their ticket to Colombia by winning the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/chinese-taipei-claim-u-15-asian-baseball-championship-qualify-for-world-cup-2024-along-with-runners-up-japan">Asia Qualifier</a>, with a 6-4 win against Japan.

In their 10 previous participations, Venezuela has claimed four medals: a gold in 2012, silver in 2001 and a pair of bronzes in Fairview Heights 1998 and Mazatlan 2014. This is their most recent medal in the competition to date. Venezuela qualified for this event in a dramatic way, walking off Brazil, 7-5, with a two-run homer by Jesus Chavez in <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup-2024-americas-qualifier-puerto-rico-dominican-republic-mexico-nicaragua-venezuela-claim-tickets">Americas Qualifier</a>.

The Netherlands arrive in Colombia as the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/netherlands-win-u-15-baseball-european-championship-and-qualify-along-with-runner-up-italy-for-wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup-2024">European champions</a>, after winning the title last year against Italy with a dominant 14-4 victory in the final. The orange squad is looking for their first medal, after failing to climb the podium in their first three appearances in this World Cup. Their best finish has been a seventh place in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, in 2011.

Nicaragua will make their second appearance in the U-15 Baseball World Cup, after a sixth-place performance in 2012 in Chihuahua, Mexico. They qualified as the fourth-place finishers in the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup-2024-americas-qualifier-puerto-rico-dominican-republic-mexico-nicaragua-venezuela-claim-tickets">Americas Qualifier</a>, losing the continental bronze medal game against Mexico.

The lowest-ranked team in the tournament is South Africa, which will represent the <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2024-vi-u15-baseball-world-cup/news/south-africa-wbsc-u-15-baseball-world-cup">African continent</a>. This will be their eighth participation in the competition, including the last two in a row where they finished 12th in 2018 and 13th in 2022, with only one win in 13 games - a 5-3 victory against China in 2018. Their best finish is eighth place in the nine-team tournament played in 2003 in Taiwan.

WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup historical preview: Intense contest in store for World Championship title

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