World Baseball Classic Day 9: Puerto Rico to face Italy in third quarterfinal
The 2026 World Baseball Classic reaches Day 9 as the knockout stage continues with the quarterfinals.
World No. 7 Puerto Rico will take on No. 15 Italy at Daikin Park in Houston at 15:00 local time, 20:00 GMT.
No. 5 Venezuela will face No. 1 Japan at loanDepot Park in Miami at 21:00 local time, 2:00 on Sunday, March 15, GMT.
The 2026 World Baseball Classic allows the top two finishers in the Americas region to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The Dominican Republic clinched the first berth on Friday, March 13. Puerto Rico and Venezuela are competing with Canada for the second spot.
World Baseball Classic Day 9
| Puerto Rico-Italy | 20:00 GMT | BOX SCORE |
| Venezuela-Japan | 2:00 AM 15/3 GMT | BOX SCORE |
QUARTERFINALS
Puerto Rico @ Italy
Left-hander Samuel Aldegheri will take the mound for Italy. The Los Angeles Angels prospect is the first pitcher born and developed in Italy to reach the MLB level. In this tournament, Aldegheri pitched 4.2 innings of one-hit baseball against Brazil, striking out eight and earning the win.
Puerto Rico will hand the ball to right-hander Seth Lugo, a 36-year-old veteran starter for the Kansas City Royals. Lugo had a four-inning scoreless start against Colombia in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Venezuela @ Japan
Olympic gold medallist and WBSC Premier12 winner Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound for Japan. The 27-year-old right-hander has helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win back-to-back World Series titles in 2024 and 2025. He has pitched 2.2 innings in his only 2026 World Baseball Classic start against Chinese Taipei on March 6.
Venezuela will hand the ball to Boston Red Sox star Rangers Suarez. The 30-year-old left-hander allowed one run to the Netherlands in a two-inning start on March 6, earning the win.
Looking ahead to the semifinals
No. 3 USA will face No. 12 Dominican Republic in the first semifinal at 20:00 local time on Sunday, March 15 (1:00 GMT on Monday, March 16). The probable starters are Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes for the USA and Oakland A's right-hander Luis Severino for the Dominican Republic.
The second semifinal is scheduled for Monday, March 16, at 20:00 local time (1:00 GMT on Tuesday, March 17. The winner of the quarterfinal between Puerto Rico and Italy will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Venezuela and Japan.
loanDepot Park in Miami will host both semifinals.
The Bracket
LA 2028 Qualification Process
The 2026 World Baseball Classic also forms part of the qualification pathway to LA28. The baseball tournament at the Olympic Games will feature six teams.
The USA qualified as host. The two highest-placed teams from the Americas at the World Baseball Classic will also earn quota places at the Olympic tournament.
Advancing to the semifinals, the Dominican Republic guaranteed one of the two LA28 tickets available to the best teams from the Americas. Their winning percentage (5-0) is superior to that of either of the other two Americas’ teams still in contention, Puerto Rico (3-1) and Venezuela (3-1). The worst the Dominican Republic could finish is as a losing semifinalist. If both Puerto Rico and Venezuela also reach the semifinals, the losing semifinalist will finish behind the Dominican Republic based on the winning percentage.
Canada is still in contention with Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
The World Baseball Classic ranking applicable criteria (in order of priority) are:
- Winning percentage, considering all games played in the competition
- Head-to-head result against all tied teams (if applicable)
- Runs allowed per recorded defensive out, considering all games played in the competition
- Earned runs allowed per recorded defensive out, considering all games played in the competition
- Overall team batting average
Cover Photo: WBCI/MLB Photos by Getty Images