Tucson Qualifier: Brazil claim last ticket to World Baseball Classic 2026
The World Baseball Classic 2026 qualifiers ended on Thursday with World No. 23 Brazil defeating No. 17 Germany 6-4 in the one-game playoff in Tucson, Arizona. Brazil return to the main tournament of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time since 2013, when they had qualified by stunning hosts Panama in the final of the WBC qualifier in 2012. Germany were eliminated for the fourth time in WBC qualifier history after missing out on a ticket in 2012, 2016, 2022 and now 2025.
Germany-Brazil
Brazil out-lasted Germany for a second time in the tournament.
Similar to the 9-7 win by Brazil over Germany during round robin play in Tucson, the one-game playoff continued the back and forth battle between two teams at the same level. Germany struck first and led off the game with a 1-0 lead thanks to a RBI single by Simon Baumgardt, who also played for Germany in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2022.
Brazil answered right away with Gabriel Gomes and Lucas Ramirez – the son of former MLB superstar Manny Ramirez, who was again in attendance and celebrating from the stands - scoring in the bottom half of the first to get them ahead. After Germany tied the game in the third thanks to a sac fly by Lucas Dunn, Brazil added three runs on a RBI single by Dante Bichette and a RBI triple by Lucas Rojo followed by a costly wild pitch to give them a 5-2 lead. After Ramirez added a RBI single in the fourth it looked like a sealed victory.
But Germany wouldn’t go down without a fight, scoring twice in the seventh to make it interesting through the end. Eric Brenk, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI, doubled home Alexander Schmidt and later also would cross the plate on an RBI groundout by Dunn. In the ninth Germany brought the tying run to the plate after a one-out single by Schmidt, but Brenk grounded into a game-ending double play to kill the comeback attempt and jumpstart the Brazilian celebrations on the field.
Leonardo Reginatto, who has a batting line of .510/.576/.667 while playing all WBC Qualifiers since 2012, said after the game through MLB.com. "One of the things that kept me playing baseball was to be here with these guys right now," he said, indicating that this would be the final WBC Qualifier tournament he would participate in. "I have no words to explain now, but it means not only a lot for me, but for the whole country, for the whole people. We had Cafu, one of the best soccer players, sending messages to us. It's touching a lot of people, and hopefully we made something big for Brazil today."
"To tell you the truth, I was more nervous now as a manager than when I was a player, because when you were at the dugout, the only thing you can do is hope for the best," said Brazil’s manager Yuichi Matsumoto after the celebrations.
“It’s a pity, heartbreaking," said Germany’s manager Jendrick Speer. "The guys fought until the end. Unfortunately, we had our difficulties to get into the game. We didn’t give up.
"Niklas Rimmel pitched great and gave us the opportunity to turn the game around. The luck was not entirely on our side. We hit a few hard hit balls, finding the Brazilian fielders. The disappointment is big now. We were very close. Everybody believed in it. But this is sport, there is a winner and there is a loser,” Speer added.
Brazil is the fourth and final qualified team for the World Baseball Classic 2026. In Tucson World No. 13 Colombia went 3-0 to clinch their spot, while No. 16 Nicaragua and No. 2 Chinese Taipei advanced through the Taipei Qualifier in February.
The World Baseball Classic 2026 will field 20 teams in total with 16 teams already being split into four groups after finishing in the top four of each group during the WBC 2023.
Tokyo, Japan, March 5 to 10: No. 1 Japan, No. 11 Australia, No. 15 Czechia, No. 6 Korea
San Juan, Puerto Rico: March 6 to 11, No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 22 Canada, No. 10 Cuba, No. 8 Panama
Houston (Texas), USA: March 6 to 11, No. 5 USA, No. 18 Great Britain, No. 14 Italy, No. 4 Mexico
Miami (Florida), USA: March 6 to 11, No. 11 Dominican Republic, No. 19 Israel, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 3 Venezuela.
Houston and Miami will host the quarterfinals on March 13 and 14, respectively. Miami will host the championship round. The semifinals are scheduled for March 15 and 16, and the World Championship Final will be played on Tuesday, March 17.